In broad budgetary terms, fiscal deficit refers to:

Concept

A fiscal deficit is the gap between a government’s total expenditure and its total non-borrowing receipts. In precise budget notation: Fiscal deficit = Total expenditure − (Revenue receipts + Non-debt capital receipts).

Application

In broad usage, “total revenue” in the offered expression is read as the government’s total non-borrowing receipts. This interpretation must include revenue receipts and non-debt capital receipts; the option does not display those components separately.

Contrast

• Revenue − Expenditure reverses the direction of the budget gap.

• Exports − Imports is the trade balance, not a measure of the government budget.

• Tax − Subsidy compares only two budget components rather than the complete expenditure and receipts aggregates.

Cross-check

1. Let total expenditure be 120.

2. Let revenue receipts be 90 and non-debt capital receipts be 10, so total non-borrowing receipts are 90 + 10 = 100.

3. Subtract non-borrowing receipts from expenditure: 120 − 100 = 20.

4. The positive gap therefore follows the expenditure-minus-receipts direction.

Thus, the best-supported offered answer is “Total expenditure − Total revenue.”