deficit financing

American  

noun

1. (especially of a government) expenditures in excess of public revenues, made possible typically by borrowing.

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deficit financing British  

noun

1. Also called: compensatory finance.   pump priming.  government spending in excess of revenues so that a budget deficit is incurred, which is financed by borrowing: recommended by Keynesian economists in order to increase economic activity and reduce unemployment

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deficit financing Cultural  

1. A government policy of financing large public expenditures by borrowing money rather than by raising taxes; also called deficit spending.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

deficit financing

During economic downturns, when revenues decline, they cannot rely on deficit financing to maintain spending.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026

“The impact of deficit financing on longer-run growth will be determined by how much government borrowing will ‘crowd out’ private investment.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 21, 2017

Even ordinary deficit financing has proven unpopular with debt-wary governments.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2016

The expedient of deficit financing inevitably is resorted to and debt accumulates.

From Forbes ● Feb. 3, 2015

Two of the most important of these causes are the wage-price spiral and continued deficit financing.

From State of the Union Address by Dwight D. (Dwight David) Eisenhower

Related Words

• budget deficit