Guide to the Budget Documents
A number of documents are released on Budget day. The purpose of these documents is to provide information about the Government's fiscal intentions for the year ahead and the wider fiscal and economic picture. The documents released on Budget day are as follows:
Budget at a Glance
The Budget at a Glance is an overview of the Budget information and contains the main points for the media and public. This summarises the Government's Budget decisions.
Fiscal Strategy Report | Summary of Initiatives | Child Poverty Report
These documents contain information on the Budget. The Fiscal Strategy Report outlines the Government's short-term fiscal intentions and long-term fiscal objectives, as required by the Public Finance Act 1989. The Summary of Initiatives lists the spending and savings initiatives included in Budget 2024. The Child Poverty Report sets out supporting information relating to child poverty, as required by the Public Finance Act 1989.
Budget Speech
The Budget Speech is the Budget Statement the Minister of Finance delivers at the start of Parliament's Budget debate. The Budget Statement generally focuses on the overall fiscal and economic position, the Government's policy priorities and how those priorities will be funded.
Budget Economic and Fiscal Update
The Budget Economic and Fiscal Update includes the Treasury's economic forecasts and the forecast financial statements of the Government incorporating the financial implications of Government decisions and other information relevant to the fiscal and economic outlook. The Budget Economic and Fiscal Update also discusses key risks to the economic and fiscal forecasts.
The Estimates of Appropriations
The Estimates outline, for the financial year about to start, expenses and capital expenditure the Government plans to incur on specified areas within each Vote, and capital injections it plans to make to individual departments. The Estimates are organised into 9 sector volumes, with each Vote allocated to one sector. Supporting information in the Estimates summarises the new policy initiatives and trend information for each Vote and provides information on what is intended to be achieved with each appropriation in a Vote and how performance against each appropriation will be assessed and reported on after the end of the financial year.
Also released on Budget Day:
The Supplementary Estimates of Appropriations
The Supplementary Estimates outline the changes to expenses, capital expenditure and capital injections to departments required for the financial year about to end. Supporting information for each Vote provides reasons for the changes to appropriations during the year, related changes in performance information and full performance information for new appropriations.