Being the main link of the financial system, it performs two main functions.

— The distribution function involves the concentration of funds in the state through various channels of receipt and their use to fulfill state goals and functions. This function is performed by the State Treasury through its bodies.

— The control function is manifested in the implementation of control measures over the process of formation and use of funds in various structural links of the economy. It is carried out by tax inspectorates and tax police, state treasuries, the Central Bank and other bodies.

The essence of any economic category, including the budget, is manifested in its functions. Since the budget is the most voluminous and basic financial category, all the main functions of finance belong to it: redistribution of GDP; government regulation and economic stimulation; financial support of the budgetary sector and implementation of social policy; ruble control over the formation and use of centralized funds of funds.

By regulating economic relations in this way, the state is able to purposefully increase or restrain the pace of production, accelerate or weaken the growth of capital and private savings, and change the structure of demand and consumption.

The budget also performs a number of other functions. These include:

— Information function. The budget is an indicator of the current state of the country’s economy, social sphere, and political situation. The structure of its revenue and expenditure parts makes it possible to judge the priorities of state policy and the scale of influence of individual interest groups on it. Moreover, since the budget law for the next year is drawn up as a planning document, it acts as a forecast of the future economic situation. Its development is accompanied by forecast calculations of the main indicators of the country's development, which are guided not only by government agencies, but also by organizations of the non-state sector of the economy, as well as ordinary citizens. The planned and forecast indicators included in the budget law create certain expectations in society, which can be both positive and negative.

— Institutionalization of public preferences. In democratic countries, the adoption of a budget law is necessarily preceded by its consideration in parliament. At this stage, adjustments are made to the bill drawn up by the government, taking into account the opinions of deputies representing the interests of their constituents. Thus, the budget structure reflects public preferences regarding government policies. Through the mechanisms of representative democracy, these preferences are embodied in specific figures for income or expenditure items.

This budget function is implemented differently in different countries. It depends on how developed are the procedures for the participation of citizens and their representatives in the development of the law on the budget and control over its implementation. The established order of the budget process, the degree of real participation of representative authorities in it, as well as the control of voters over the actions of elected bodies are important.

— Regulatory function. In a market economy, the main instrument of government regulation is
is a financial system, the central link of which is the budget. Any significant decisions in the field of economic policy must have financial support, so they are supported by corresponding budget expenditures.

The influence of the budget is not limited to the public sector of the economy and goes far beyond it. The regulatory influence is exerted not only by budget expenditures, but also by taxes that stimulate or hinder the development of certain industries or areas of activity.

Budget as a phenomenon

Definition 1

The budget is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon that needs to be considered from different points of view. It represents the State plan and consists of two parts: revenue and expenditure. It has the force of law and is an expression of financial relations, and also carries the function of a fund of funds.

The significance of the budget is determined by the relations of trade turnover in society. Its task is the redistribution of funds and their partial accumulation in the relevant State funds and covering the necessary State expenses.

Budget functions

Budget functions are inherent in their essence and are expressed through properties:

  1. The distribution function is expressed in the formation and use of centralized funds of funds corresponding to various levels of government of State and local government. With the help of the budget, the State has the opportunity to regulate the economic activities of the country, the development of territories and various industries, as well as the social sphere. Through regulation, the State purposefully increases or restrains the rate of production growth, increases or decreases the rate of capital growth, and changes the structure of supply and demand.
  2. The redistribution function manifests itself directly at the stages of income generation and distribution of budget resources. In the process of budget formation, a portion of GDP is withdrawn in favor of the State, which is redistributed among needy areas of the economy.
  3. Regulatory and stimulating functions are manifested through tax revenues and expenses. They act as a tool for stimulating the economy and investment, and increase production efficiency.
  4. The social function lies in the social orientation of budget funds. This is manifested in the support of society, primarily the least protected segments of the population, health care institutions, education, culture and housing.
  5. The planning function determines budget policy, goals, objectives and ways to achieve them. Distributes powers between government bodies. Determines the need for funds in order to ensure the functions assigned to the relevant bodies to solve the assigned tasks. Develops ways to develop budgets based on calculated and forecasted data. Development of draft budgets, as well as measures to ensure budget execution.
  6. The function of organizing a budget involves determining the structure of the budget and its classification, the procedure for drawing up, reviewing and approving budgets. Ensures the selection of appropriate credit institutions from the standpoint of providing budgets with the necessary funds. Determines the bodies responsible for the development of standards defining budget structures in accordance with the tasks.
  7. The control function interacts with the distribution function and determines the possibility and obligation of bodies to monitor the execution of budgets.

Need for a Budget

The existence of the budget is inherently determined by the existing system of commodity-money relations, in which the State can perform its functions only with sufficient funding. The budget acts as an accumulating fund, in which, through the accumulation of funds from all sectors of the economy, the amount necessary for the performance of the functions of the State is formed and allocated in the future. The budget helps ensure social justice in society and increases the efficiency of use of economic resources.

Note 1

In recent years, there has also been a stimulating function of the budget, expressed in the allocation of funds to priority and well-developing sectors and encouraging economic entities to make effective economic use, which contributes to the mobilization of domestic economic funds.


The state budget performs distribution (redistribution) and control functions.
Thanks to the first, funds are concentrated in the hands of the state and used to meet national needs.
With the help of the second function, it becomes possible to determine how timely and fully financial resources are available to the state, how the proportions actually develop in the distribution of budget funds, and whether they are used effectively.
The control function allows, through the formation and use of the state’s cash fund, to “signal” how financial resources from different economic entities are coming to the state’s disposal, and whether the size of the state’s centralized resources corresponds to the volume of its needs.
The main functions of the state budget as the main financial plan of the state, from an economic and legislative point of view, are:
redistribution of national income and GDP (gross domestic product);
government regulation and economic stimulation;
financial support for social policy;
control over the formation and use of a centralized fund of funds.
About 50% of GDP is redistributed through the state budget.
The budget is widely used for intersectoral and territorial redistribution of financial resources, taking into account the requirements for the most rational allocation of productive forces. The social orientation of budget funds is important.
In social policy, the priority main directions are:
support for the population of protected segments of the population (pensioners, disabled people, students, low-income families);
functioning of healthcare institutions, education, culture, solving housing problems.
The functions of the state budget are carried out through the use of the budget mechanism, which is the real embodiment of budget policy and reflects the specific focus of budget relations on solving economic and social problems.

More on the topic Functions of the state budget:

  1. 3.1. The essence of the state budget and its main functions
  2. 3.1. Budget structure of the Russian Federation 3.1.1. Concept of state budget

The main purpose of the budget is that it allows you to accumulate financial resources in the hands of the state and use them to finance various programs. However, in addition to this most important task, the budget also performs a number of other functions. These include:

Public functions:

1. Control function. The budget allows for control over the actions of the executive branch, which can be carried out in various forms - by specialized bodies vested with control powers (for example, the Accounts Chamber), by a higher organization, etc. In countries with developed democratic traditions, public control is important, for the development of which special programs are being adopted to increase the transparency of the budget system. The budget is passed into law and thereby places restrictions on government action. It sets out legislative limits on individual items of income and expenditure, which the state must strictly observe when pursuing socio-economic policy.

2. Information function. The budget is an indicator of the current state of the country's economy, social sphere, and political situation. The structure of its revenue and expenditure parts makes it possible to judge the priorities of state policy and the scale of influence of individual interest groups on it. Moreover, since the budget law for the next year is drawn up as a planning document, it acts as a forecast of the future economic situation. Its development is accompanied by forecast calculations of the main indicators of the country's development, which are guided not only by government agencies, but also by organizations of the non-state sector of the economy, as well as ordinary citizens. The planned and forecast indicators included in the budget law create certain expectations in society, which can be both positive and negative.

3. Institutionalization of public preferences. In democratic countries, the adoption of a budget law is necessarily preceded by its consideration in parliament. At this stage, adjustments are made to the bill drawn up by the government, taking into account the opinions of deputies representing the interests of their constituents. Thus, the budget structure reflects public preferences regarding government policies. Through the mechanisms of representative democracy, these preferences are embodied in specific figures for income or expenditure items.

This budget function is implemented differently in different countries. It depends on how developed are the procedures for the participation of citizens and their representatives in the development of the law on the budget and control over its implementation. The established order of the budget process, the degree of real participation of representative authorities in it, as well as the control of voters over the actions of elected bodies are important.

4. Regulatory function. In a market economy, the main instrument of government regulation is the financial system, the central link of which is the budget. Any significant decisions in the field of economic policy must have financial support, so they are supported by corresponding budget expenditures.

By spending on healthcare, education, and social security, the state regulates the social development and standard of living of the country's population. With the help of expenses to support certain sectors of the economy, the production of socially significant goods and services is ensured, which from the point of view of the market may be ineffective. The budget is an instrument of regional policy, since, at the expense of donor regions, it supports depressed and crisis areas that have insufficient economic potential or are experiencing the consequences of emergency situations.

The influence of the budget is not limited to the public sector of the economy and goes far beyond it. The regulatory influence is exerted not only by budget expenditures, but also by taxes that stimulate or hinder the development of certain industries or areas of activity.

The named functions of the budget are objective in nature and take place in any country in the world, regardless of the level of development of democratic institutions and the nature of state economic policy. Some of them may contradict each other. For example, for the successful implementation of the control and information function, the budget must be stable, and the regulatory function, on the contrary, involves its change depending on the current conditions of socio-economic development. The choice between budget stability or flexibility is determined by state policy objectives, established traditions and public preferences, as well as a number of other factors.

Functions of the state budget as an economic category:

1. Distribution (redistribution). Thanks to the distribution function, funds are concentrated in the hands of the state and used to satisfy national needs.

The content of the distribution function of the budget is determined by the processes of redistribution of financial resources between different divisions of social production. None of the other levels of finance carries out such multi-type (intersectoral, interterritorial, etc.) and multi-level (federal, republican, regional, city, etc.) redistribution of funds as the budget.

The scope of the distribution function is determined by the fact that almost all participants in social production enter into relations with the budget. The main object of budget redistribution is net income; however, this does not exclude the possibility of redistribution through the budget of part of the cost of the necessary product, and sometimes of national wealth.

2. Control function. It allows you to find out how timely and fully financial resources are available to the state, how the proportions actually develop in the distribution of budget funds, and whether they are used effectively. The control function lies in the fact that the budget objectively - through the formation and use of the state monetary fund - reflects the economic processes occurring in the structural units of the economy. Thanks to this property, the budget can “signal” how financial resources from different economic entities are coming to the state’s disposal, whether the size of the state’s centralized resources corresponds to the volume of its needs, etc. The basis of the control function is the movement of budget resources, reflected in the corresponding indicators of budget revenues and expenditure assignments.

Functions of the state budget as a financial plan:

1. Redistribution of GDP. The distribution function of the budget is manifested through the formation and use of centralized funds of funds at the levels of state and territorial government and management. In developed countries, up to 50% of GDP is distributed through budgets at various levels;

2. State regulation and stimulation of the economy. With the help of the budget, the state regulates the economic life of the country, economic relations, directing budget funds to support or develop industries and regions. By regulating economic relations in this way, the state is able to purposefully increase or restrain the pace of production, accelerate or weaken the growth of capital and private savings, and change the structure of demand and consumption.

3. Financial support for the budgetary sphere and the implementation of the state’s social policy. The social orientation of budget funds is important. In social policy, the main priorities are supporting the least protected segments of the population, as well as the functioning of healthcare, educational and cultural institutions, and solving the housing problem.

4. Control over the formation and use of centralized funds of funds. In the process of budget planning and budget execution, control is exercised over the financial and economic activities of the national economy. In the conditions of the emergence of market relations, the importance of budgetary control in the process of mobilizing resources and their use is increasing.

Thus, the functions of the state budget can be conditionally divided into 3 categories: public functions (control, information, institutionalization of public preferences, regulatory), functions of the state budget as an economic category (distribution and control), functions of the state budget as a financial plan (redistribution of GDP, state regulation and stimulation of the economy, financial support for the budgetary sector and the implementation of social policy of the state, control over the formation and use of centralized funds of funds).

The functions of the state budget are carried out through the use of the budget mechanism, which is the real embodiment of budget policy and reflects the specific focus of budget relations on solving economic and social problems.

All areas and links of the financial system are closely interconnected and constantly interact. The central link of the financial system is the state budget. The word "budget" (from English. budget) translates as "bag and its contents". The budget was the name given to the monetary portfolio of the Minister of the Treasury, so from an economic point of view, the budget can be interpreted as the state of the state’s “cash bag”. A distinctive feature of state budgets is their increasing role in the redistribution of national income. The volume of this redistribution amounts to 40-50% of GDP.

The state budget can be viewed from two perspectives: as an economic category And like a financial plan. In its economic essence, the state budget represents the monetary relations that arise between the state and individuals and legal entities regarding the redistribution of national income in connection with the formation and use of the budget fund. As a financial plan, the state budget consists of income n expenses. Being the main financial plan of the state, the state budget gives authorities a real economic opportunity to exercise power. It reflects the size of the financial resources required by the state and thereby determines the tax policy in the country. The budget fixes specific areas for spending funds, redistributing national income and gross domestic product, which allows it to act as an effective regulator of the economy.

The state budget appeared with the emergence of the state. However, only with the coming to power of the bourgeoisie did the budget take the form of a document approved by the legislative body. The origin of the budget and its approval process is England. After the revolution of 1686-1689. the king was forced to abandon the custom of imposing taxes without the consent of parliament. State expenses were divided into two parts: civil expenses and military expenses. Military expenses were approved annually, and civil expenses (expenses according to the civil list) - only if the king made changes to them. In the process of limiting royal power, only the costs of maintaining the king and the royal court remained on the civil list.

In Russia, the first list of state revenues and expenses was compiled in 1722 for 1723. Since 1802, these lists began to be compiled annually, but only in 1811 did the compilation of the Russian budget begin. However, this budget was of a formal nature, since each ministry disposed of the funds allocated to it without control and had its own sources of income. Only since 1862, as a result of the development of the budget structure, the funds of ministries began to be concentrated in the hands of the state on the principle of unity of the treasury. The Russian state budget was not published and was kept strictly secret. Even the members of the State Council did not know the actual state of the Empire's finances. Since 1894, Russian government spending began to be divided into ordinary and emergency. The latter included military expenditures, railway maintenance costs and loans. From that moment on, the Russian budget became public.

Principles of state budgeting

During the development process, four principles were developed that the budget must comply with:

  • completeness;
  • unity;
  • reality (truthfulness);
  • publicity.

Under completeness of the budget refers to the inclusion in the budget of all income and expenses of government bodies. From the point of view of completeness, there are gross budget And net budget. The gross budget includes the weight of the state's gross revenues and gross expenses, the net budget includes only net expenses and income. For example, expenditures on state-owned enterprises are included in the gross budget, but the net budget reflects only the difference between income and expenses.

Budget unity consists of both a uniform budgeting procedure and unified budget documentation. There must be one budget that reflects all government income and expenses. In addition, unity presupposes the comparability of parts of the budget with each other. For this purpose it is used unified budget classification, those. grouping budget income and expenses according to homogeneous characteristics. Currently, four main types of budget classification of budget income and expenditures are used:

  • 1) departmental (administrative, ministerial);
  • 2) subject (industry, real, functional);
  • 3) economic;
  • 4) mixed (combined).

Departmental classification groups income and expenses by ministries and departments; subject - by branches of government: military spending, healthcare, education, etc. Economic classification groups expenses according to economic criteria: investments, wages, pensions, loans, etc. Mixed classification comes down to grouping expenses in a checkerboard pattern: according to two types of budget classification in vertical and horizontal directions (for example, horizontally - by economic characteristics, and vertically - by enterprises).

Truthfulness (reality) of the budget assumes that all amounts of budget income and expenses must be justified and correct.

Publicity of the budget involves an open discussion of the budget and its approval by the country's legislative body.

Functions of the state budget

The state budget performs the following functions:

  • A) distribution This function of the budget is manifested through the formation and use of centralized funds of funds at the levels of state and territorial government and management. In developed countries, up to 50% of GDP is redistributed through budgets at various levels.
  • b) stimulating. With the help of the budget, the state regulates the economic life of the country, economic relations, directing budget funds to support or develop industries and regions. By regulating economic relations in this way, the state is able to purposefully increase or restrain the rate of production growth, accelerate or weaken the growth of capital and private savings, and change the structure of demand and consumption. This is where the stimulating function of the budget manifests itself.
  • V) social. This function consists of accumulating funds in the budget and using them to implement social programs aimed at developing health care, culture, education, and supporting the poor.
  • G) test. This function of the budget presupposes the possibility and obligation of state control over the receipt and use of budget funds.
Budget income and expenses

The redistribution of gross domestic product through the budget has two interconnected stages that occur simultaneously and continuously: 1) the formation of budget revenues; 2) use of budget funds (budget expenses).

Budget revenues - these are funds received free of charge and irrevocably in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation at the disposal of state authorities of the Russian Federation, state authorities of constituent entities of the Russian Federation and local governments. Budget revenues can be tax and non-tax in nature. Main source tax revenue are newly created value and income received as a result of its primary distribution (profit, wages, added value, loan interest, rent, dividends, etc.), as well as accumulation. Taxes account for 80-90% of the central budget revenues of various states. Non-tax revenues Budgets are formed as a result of either the economic activity of the state itself, or the redistribution of already received income across levels of the budget system. Non-tax revenues include:

  • income from the sale of state and municipal property;
  • income from foreign economic activities;
  • income from the sale of government reserves.

Budget expenses - These are funds allocated to financially support the tasks and functions of the state and local government. State budget expenditures in countries with developed market economies include the following main groups of expenditures:

  • for national defense;
  • economic development;
  • socio-cultural needs;
  • maintenance of the state administrative apparatus;
  • servicing public debt.

Budget expenses are mostly irrevocable. Only budget loans can be provided on a repayable basis. The structure of budget expenditures is established annually in the budget plan and depends, like budget revenues, on the economic situation and public priorities.