late Middle English: from Old French bougette, diminutive of bouge ‘leather bag’, from Latin bulga ‘leather bag, knapsack’, of Gaulish origin. Compare with bulge. The word originally meant a pouch or wallet, and later its contents. In the mid 18th century, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in presenting his annual statement, was said ‘to open the budget’. In the late 19th century the use of the term was extended from governmental to other finances.