Budget & the Stock Market: Why the government’s Total Expenditure figure has the power to move the stock indices

In the overall Union Budget, the Total Expenditure figure is an important pillar, representing the government's entire spending plan for a fiscal year. For the fiscal year 2025-26, this number is a staggering ₹50.65 lakh crore. While its sheer size is impressive, the true story of a nation’s economic priorities and its strategy for growth is not found in this single number, but in its composition. How the government allocates this massive sum – what it spends on, and for what purpose – is fundamentally more important than how much it spends in total.