PET 2026 · Economy

Budget deficits: separate three balances

Formulas, economic meaning, numerical check and the FRBM Act, 2003

PDF ↓PNG ↓
MINDMAPS FOR UPSCPET 2026 · VISUAL REVISION

Budget deficits: separate three balances

Formulas, economic meaning, numerical check and the FRBM Act, 2003

Concept map
Government Budget Deficits & Fiscal Discipline

Revenue deficit

  • Revenue Deficit = Revenue Expenditure − Revenue Receipts; shows dissaving on the government's current account.
  • A positive revenue deficit means revenue expenditure exceeds revenue receipts.
  • Revenue receipts include tax and non-tax revenue; borrowing is not revenue.

Fiscal deficit

  • Fiscal Deficit = Total Expenditure − (Revenue Receipts + Non-Debt Capital Receipts).
  • Non-debt capital receipts include loan recoveries and disinvestment proceeds, but exclude borrowings.
  • Represents the total borrowing requirement of the Government of India from all sources in a fiscal year.

Primary deficit

  • Primary Deficit = Fiscal Deficit − Interest Payments on past accumulated debt.
  • Measures how much of current government borrowing is driven by current-year non-interest expenditure.
  • At zero primary deficit, the fiscal deficit equals interest payments.

Example and fiscal responsibility

  • Example: Expenditure = 100, Revenue Receipts = 70, Non-Debt Capital Receipts = 10 → Fiscal Deficit = 20.
  • If Interest Payments = 6 in that budget, then Primary Deficit = 20 − 6 = 14.
  • FRBM Act, 2003 supports fiscal responsibility and transparency; targets may change.
Understand · Connect · Recallmindmapsforupsc.com

Practise this concept · संबंधित प्रश्न

One visual, several questions. These links open the original paper at the matching question.

25 Oct · Shift 1 · 2026

30 Oct · Shift 1 · 2026

Sources & study notes · स्रोत

Independent revision material, linked to the paper’s concepts. The question papers and answer-key status are available on OpenPYQ.