public debt

noun

1. national debt.

public debt

noun

1. the total financial obligations incurred by all governmental bodies of a nation

2. another name for national debt

Word History and Origins

Origin of public debt¹

First recorded in 1715–25

Example Sentences

His reappointment comes as France faces political deadlock and a parliamentary impasse over a cost-cutting budget against a backdrop of climbing public debt.

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His reappointment comes as France faces political deadlock and a parliamentary impasse over a cost-cutting budget against a backdrop of climbing public debt.

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But with Tunisia now mired in public debt, the current government has backtracked on that promise and is planning a fivefold increase in fertiliser output at Gabes in a bid to boost hard currency earnings.

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As Neil Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics, puts it: “There are no magic thresholds for either public debt or budget deficits beyond which fiscal crises become inevitable.”

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That is largely because the main drivers of spending kept rising: social programs, including Social Security and Medicare, and interest on the public debt, which topped $1 trillion by one measure for the first time.

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