Composition, Presentation and Implementation

Abstract

Like other national budgets, the Soviet budget comes round every year; but unlike many economies, the Soviet economy is also regulated by economic plans, including plans of longer than one year’s duration. If an annual budgetary cycle is not necessary for guiding the economy or for any indirect manipulative effects, why does this annual periodicity persist? Could not a budget be presented at shorter or longer intervals, or perhaps irregularly, when one was needed? There are probably five reasons why the budget is annual: conformity with the timetable of the economic plans; inertia; organisational complexity; the seasonal dimension; and international legitimacy. As listed here these five reasons may also be in the approximate order of their importance.