Budget Day
Budget Day
The word "budget" originally referred to a leather wallet or bag, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer carried the government's financial papers in such a bag. The expression "to open one's budget" meant "to speak one's mind." Eventually the word came to stand for the contents of the bag, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer was said to be "opening the budget" when he presented his annual statement to the House of Commons. The modern meaning of the word dates from the mid-18th century.
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www.parliament.uk
AnnivHol-2000, p. 60
DictDays-1988, p. 16