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A government budget is a projection of the government's revenues and expenditure for a particular period, often referred to as a financial or fiscal year, which may or may not correspond with the calendar year.
Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. [1] [2] In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual or collective needs of the community, is classed as government final consumption expenditure.
A government's budget is a comprehensive financial plan that outlines its priorities and objectives for a given period. As a policy document, a government's budget is designed as a plan for implementing its policy. Traditionally, budgets served as a more rigid tool to implement policy in a retrospective setting.
In practice, government budgeting or public budgeting is substantially more complicated and often results in inefficient practices. Government can pay for spending by borrowing (for example, with government bonds), although borrowing is a method
The government financial statements usually include a statement of activities (similar to an income statement in the private sector), a balance sheet and often some type of reconciliation. Cash flow statements are often included to show the sources of the revenue and the destination of the expenses.
The United States budget comprises the spending and revenues of the U.S. federal government.The budget is the financial representation of the priorities of the government, reflecting historical debates and competing economic philosophies.
With cash accounting the cost of capital assets is recognized in the budget in the year the expense is incurred. By contrast, under accrual accounting, for an asset that lasts, say 25 years, it is possible to commit resources in one year with the budgetary impact being spread for budget purposes over a 25-year period.
This accrued interest is added to the Social Security Trust Fund and therefore the national debt each year and will be paid to Social Security recipients in the future. However, since it is a non-cash expense it is excluded from the budget deficit calculation. [60] U.S. spending per person from 1980 to 2011.