Governments collect revenues mainly for two purposes: to finance the goods and services they provide to citizens and businesses, and to fulfil their redistributive role. Comparing levels of government revenues across countries provides an indication of the importance of the government sector in...

General government deficit is defined as the balance of income and expenditure of government, including capital income and capital expenditures. "Net lending" means that government has a surplus, and is providing financial resources to other sectors, while "net borrowing" means that government...