The balance of payments of a country is a systematic record of

Balance of payments (BoP) is a systematic record of a country's economic transactions with the rest of the world over a given period, usually a year. Option A is the closest match. Strictly, it should say all economic transactions rather than only import and export transactions, but among the choices it is the only one that captures the whole structure of the record.

Why the others fail:

• B covers only goods exported. BoP also records imports, services, income flows and transfers, so one side of the trade account is not the whole record.
• C is wrong because BoP records transactions between residents of one country and non-residents, which include private firms and individuals, not just governments.
• D captures only one part, the capital account. Current account items such as trade in services and remittances are left out.

Core concept: BoP has a current account, a capital account and a financial account, and in principle the total balances to zero. It links to Mains GS-3 on the external sector, current account deficit and pressure on the rupee.

Trap: choosing B because it looks like the trade balance. BoP is much broader than trade.