The finance ministry will kick-start the exercise to prepare the annual Budget for 2022-23 on October 12, a notification said on Monday.

       This will be the fourth budget of the Modi 2.0 government and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The Union Budget is expected to be announced on February 1, 2022, as has been done for the past few years.

       The budget will have to focus on accelerating economy growth while maintaining fiscal prudence amid the threat of the third wave of the pandemic.

       “The pre-budget meetings as well as the meetings to discuss the revised estimates will start from October 12, 2021 and will continue till second week of November, according to the Budget Circular (2022-23) of the Budget Division of the Department of Economic Affairs.

       Keeping in view the special circumstances of this year, the ministry circular that the final budgetary allocation will also be decided according to the overall financial position and absorption capacity of the ministry concerned.

       Finance secretaries of all union territories have also been asked to prepare in advance, a statement detailing all plan outlays and these should be made available to the Union home ministry.

       Ceilings for all categories of expenditure, including the central sector and centrally sponsored schemes will be discussed, it said.

       The Budget Estimates (BE) for 2022-23 will be provisionally finalised after the expenditure secretary completes discussions with other secretaries and financial advisers, the circular noted.