Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be presenting the interim Budget for the financial year 2019-20 on 1 February 2019. The Finance Ministry on Wednesday said, "the work for preparation of interim Budget 2019-20 has already commenced and is now gaining momentum". This will be the BJP-led NDA government's last budget before the 2019 general assembly elections and Arun Jaitley's sixth consecutive budget. The ministry has already sought inputs from different central ministries to prepare the budget speech, PTI reported.

The budgetary exercise for 2019-20 began last month where the finance ministry held meetings with the ministries of steel, power, and housing and urban development, among others in order to finalize a revised expenditure for the current fiscal and make projections for the next financial year.

A quarantine will be imposed from 3 December by the finance ministry barring the entry of media persons into the North Block, in New Delhi where the country's Finance Ministry is seated. It will continue till the date of presentation of the interim Budget by the finance minister to the Parliament on 1 February 2019, the ministry's statement said.

The full-fledged budget will be presented by the new government formed after the assembly elections. As per practice, a vote-on-account or approval for essential government spending for a limited period is taken in an election year before the election.