The Government budget balance, also commonly referred to as general government balance, public budget balance, or public fiscal balance, is the overall result of a country's general government budget over the course of an accounting period, usually one year. It includes all government levels (from national to local) and public social security funds. The budget balance is the difference between government revenues (e.g., tax) and spending. A positive balance is called a government budget surplus, and a negative balance is called a government budget deficit.
The government budget balance is used to assess the fiscal health of a country. It is further differentiated by closely related terms such as primary balance and structural balance (also known as cyclically-adjusted balance) of the general government. The primary budget balance equals the government budget balance before interest payments. The structural budget balances attempts to adjust for the impacts of the real GDP changes in the national economy. Keynesian economics advocates a government budget deficit during recession or downturn as long as it is limited enough to render the structural government budget balance positive.
Read more about Government Budget Balance: Primary Deficit, Total Deficit, and Debt, Structural Deficits, Cyclical Deficits, and The Fiscal Gap, Early Deficits, Deficit Spending
Famous quotes containing the words government, budget and/or balance:
“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“You can fool all the people all the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough.”
—Joseph E. Levine (b. 1905)
“At last I feel the equal of my parents. Knowing you are going to have a child is like extending yourself in the world, setting up a tent and saying “Here I am, I am important.” Now that I’m going to have a child it’s like the balance is even. My hand is as rich as theirs, maybe for the first time. I am no longer just a child.”
—Anonymous Father. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 5 (1978)