Fiscal year. A year running from July 1 through June 30 which is designated by the calendar year in which it ends.

New obligational authority.-Authorizations enacted by the Congress which allow Federal agencies to incur obligations for the payment of money. These authorizations must precede all budget obligations and expenditures. They are enacted in several forms, including

Appropriation: Authorization to spend money for a stated purpose. This is the most common form of new obligational authority.

Contract authorization: Authorization to make a contract before an appropriation is made to cover it, usually for construction which will extend over a considerable time. A subsequent appropriation to pay for the contract is necessary.

Authorization to expend from debt receipts: Authority granted Government enterprises to spend money they borrow from the Treasury or from the public.

Obligation. Commitment made to pay out money. This includes approval of loans and contracts for equipment or construction, as well as current commitments such as salaries or benefit payments.

Budget expenditure.-Net amounts paid to liquidate obligations. Expenditures may follow obligations by a few weeks or in some cases by as many as three or more years. Most expenditures are made in the form of checks and are reported for the fiscal year in which the checks are issued. Exceptions are (a) payments made in currency instead of by check are reported as expenditures when the disbursements are made, (b) payments made by issuing bonds or notes are reported as expenditures when they are issued, and (c) interest in the public debt is reported as an expenditure in the year in which the interest accrues rather than when it is paid. Receipts of public enterprise funds are deducted from the total sums disbursed by these funds in arriving at budget expenditures. Budget ex

The Federal Budget In Brief, Fiscal Year 1958.

penditures exclude payments from funds held in trust and repayments of borrowing.

Budget receipts.-Money received by the Treasury from taxes and customs (less refunds of previous overpayments) and from miscellaneous sources, such as collections on certain loans, rents, fines, fees, and sales. Tax and customs receipts are stated on the basis of collections reported by collecting officers and miscellaneous receipts on the basis of confirmed deposits. Budget receipts exclude funds received in trust and money obtained from borrowing.

Budget surplus.-Excess of budget receipts over budget expenditures in any fiscal year. A deficit may be financed by increasing the debt, by decreasing the cash held by the Government, or both.

Unexpended balances carried forward.-Portions of obligational authority enacted in prior years in the several forms mentioned above which are still available in the succeeding year(s). These balances consist of authority to incur obligations or to draw cash from the Treasury as needed to pay for obligations; they are not cash on hand.

Revolving funds.-Funds which finance a cycle of operations, in which expenditures generate receipts that are available for continuing use. Revolving funds may be for public enterprises with receipts primarily from outside the Government, such as the postal fund, or for performance of services, such as printing, to meet the Government's own needs.

Management fund.-Funds created to permit pooling of advance payments under two or more appropriations in order to carry out closely related activities.

Trust funds.-Funds established for receipts held in trust by the Government for use in carrying out specific purposes in accordance with an agreement or statute.

Guaranty. A credit aid in which the Government pledges to repay loans made by others in case the borrower defaults or, in some cases, pledges to take over loans from private lenders at their option.