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The Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement is a statement presented to the

Parliament at the time of Union Budget Presentation under Section 3(4) of the Fi
scal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003(FRBM).
it outlines the strategic priorities of Government in the fiscal area for the en
suing financial year relating to taxation, expenditure, lending and investments,
administered pricing, borrowings and guarantees.
The government's fiscal strategy priorities for 2017-18 rests on the principle o
f continuing on the
path of fiscal consolidation while allowing for flexibility
in response to the prevailing economic conditions. The
2017-18 fiscal strategy of the government is based
on the following broad intents:
(a) Prioritising and re-directing government spending on core infrastructure and
developmental schemes particularly in
agriculture, rural development, health, education, drinking water and sanitation
and to boost growth and employment along while
bringing improvements in human development indices;
(b) Continue steadily on the path of fiscal consolidation by reducing the public
debt/
total liabilities as a percentage of GDP and
relying on tax and non-tax revenues to support expenditure growth.
(c) Supporting tax revenue growth through policies that result in increasing the
tax net and higher tax collections to enhance the
tax to GDP ratio; and
(d) To cover the existing fiscal gap, focus to be maintained on enhancing non-ta
x revenues and higher non-debt capital receipts through an accelerated pace of d
isinvestments.
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Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement:
The Medium-term Fiscal Policy Statement (MTFP) is a statement presented to the P
arliament under Section 3(2) of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management
(FRBM) Act, 2003, which sets out three-year rolling targets for five specific fi
scal indicators in relation to GDP at market prices, namely, (i) Revenue Deficit
(ii) effective revenue deficit(Concept given by Pranab da), (iii) Fiscal Defici
t, (iv) Tax to GDP ratio and (v) Total outstanding Debt as percentage of GDP at
the end of the year.
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Medium-term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) Statement
The Medium-term Expenditure Framework Statement is a statement presented to the
Parliament under Section 3 of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (F
RBM) Act, 2003 and sets forth a three-year rolling target for the expenditure in
dicators
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Expenditure Profile:
This year, two decisions with regard to budgeting: merging Plan and Non-Plan ite
ms of expenditure and
merging the Rail Budget with
the Union Budget.
The Budget 2017-18 does away with the Plan-Non Plan distinction in all budget do
cuments brought out by the
Finance Ministry.

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the Budget for 2017-18 contains three major reforms.
First, the presentation of the Budget has been advanced to 1st February to enabl
e the Parliament to avoid a Vote on Account and pass a single Appropriation Bill
for 2017-18, before the close of the current financial year. This would enable
the Ministries and Departments to operationalise all schemes and projects, inclu
ding the new schemes, right from the commencement of the next financial year. Th
ey would be able to fully utilise the available working season before the onset
of the monsoon.Also corporates can plan their Tax accordingly.
Second, the merger of the Railways Budget with the General Budget is a historic
step. We have discontinued the colonial practice prevalent since 1924. This deci
sion brings the Railways to the centre stage of Government's fiscal policy and w
ould facilitate multi modal transport planning between railways, highways and in
land waterways. The functional autonomy of Railways will, however, continue.
Third, we have done away with the plan and non-plan classification of expenditur
e. This will give us a holistic view of allocations for sectors and ministries.
This would facilitate optimal allocation of resources.
The agenda for the next year is : "Transform, Energise and Clean India", that is
, TEC India. This agenda of TEC India seeks to
a. Transform the quality of governance and quality of life of our people;
b. Energise various sections of society, especially the youth and the vulnerable
, and enable them to unleash their true potential; and
c. Clean the country from the evils of corruption, black money and non-transpare
nt political funding.

Ten distinct themes to foster this broad agenda. The themes are :
1. Farmers: for whom we have committed to double the income in 5 years;
2. Rural Population: providing employment and basic infrastructure;
3. Youth: energising them through education, skills and jobs;
4. Poor and the Underprivileged: strengthening the systems of social security, h
ealth care and affordable housing;
5. Infrastructure: for efficiency, productivity and quality of life;
6. Financial Sector: growth and stability through stronger institutions;
7. Digital Economy: for speed, accountability and transparency;
8. Public Service: effective governance and efficient service delivery through p
eople's participation;
9. Prudent Fiscal Management: to ensure optimal deployment of resources and pres
erve fiscal stability; and
10. Tax Administration: honouring the honest