(1) The Annual budget, and policies announced at the time of the budget, shall be consistent with the objectives and targets specified in the Medium Term Fiscal Plan for the coming and further years.
(2) The Minister in charge of the Department of Finance shall review, every half, year, the trends in receipts and expenditure in relation to the budget, remedial measures to be taken to achieve the budget targets and place before the House of Legislature, the outcome of such reviews. The review report shall be in such form as may be prescribed.
(3) The review reports shall explain:
(a) any deviation or likely deviation in meeting the obligations cast on the State Government under this Act.
(b) whether such deviation is substantial and relates to the actual or the potential budgetary outcomes, and how much of the deviation can be attributed to general economic environment and lo policy changes by the State Government; and
(c) the remedial measures, the State Government proposes to take.
(4) Whenever there is a prospect of either short fall in revenue or excess of expenditure over pre specified levels for a given year on account of any new policy decisions of the State Government that affects either the State Government or its Public Sector Undertakings, the State Government, prior to taking such policy decision, shall take measures to fully offset the fiscal impact for the current and future years by curtailing the sums authorized to be paid and applied from and out of the Consolidated fund of the State under any Act to provide for the appropriation of such sums or by taking interim measures for revenue augmentation, or by taking up a combination of both ;
Provided that, while adhering to the fiscal targets, the State Governments will give priority to protecting certain expenditure declared in the Medium Term Fiscal Plan as "high priority development expenditure" (including, inter alia, elementary education, basic health and rural water supply) from curtailment or may impose a reduced or partial curtailment.
(5) Whenever one or more supplementary estimates are presented to the House of Legislature, the State Government shall also present an accompanying statement indicating the corresponding curtailment of expenditure and/or augmentation of revenue to fully offset the fiscal impact of the supplementary estimates in relation to the budget targets of the current year and the Medium Term Fiscal Plan objectives and targets for the future year.
Power to make rules