Advancement of Budget presentation approved

The Union Cabinet has approved advancing the date for presenting the Union Budget by a month.
•    The Cabinet has also decided to merge the Railway Budget with the Union Budget, a reform sought by many experts for long. 
•    A decision has also been taken to remove the classifications for expenditure to make the exercise simpler.
•    The proposals were cleared by a meeting of the union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
•    The move is aimed at getting all the legislative approvals for the annual spending and tax proposals before the beginning of the new financial year on April 1. 
•    Accordingly, the beginning of budget preparation will be advanced to early October. 
•    The government is likely to convene the Budget Session of Parliament before 25 January 2017, a month ahead of the current practice. 
•    The pre-Budget Economic Survey will also be advanced.