foreign debt
noun
: the amount of money that a country owes other countries
the nation's growing foreign debt
Examples of foreign debt in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Ghana's currency has experienced a sharp decline and the country has agreed a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund, after defaulting on most of its foreign debt.
—
Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR, 25 Feb. 2024
The ruble plunged against the dollar and Russia defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time since 1918.
—David J. Lynch, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2024
And before embarking on their development agenda, they have been forced to contend with Pakistan’s crippling foreign debt.
—Madiha Afzal, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2019
The country of 105 million people is sinking under foreign debt and contending with a severe shortage of hard currency.
—Claire Parker, Washington Post, 10 Dec. 2023
In other cases, governments simply opted to default rather than make the painful cuts to social programs that would have been necessary to service their foreign debt on schedule.
—Shantayanan Devarajan, Foreign Affairs, 4 Aug. 2022
This has not proved fatal in the Sri Lankan case, since Chinese debt accounts for only about ten percent of the country’s foreign debt and an even smaller share of the debt that must be serviced this year.
—Shantayanan Devarajan, Foreign Affairs, 4 Aug. 2022
Egypt’s long-standing dependence on fuel and food imports has bloated its foreign debt, thanks in part to the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.
—Lisa Anderson, Foreign Affairs, 25 Oct. 2023
The current administration has strongly favored India, but many Maldivians worry about Indian military presence on their shores, as well as mounting foreign debt.
—Sushmita Pathak, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Sep. 2023
Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR, 25 Feb. 2024
The ruble plunged against the dollar and Russia defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time since 1918.
—David J. Lynch, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2024
And before embarking on their development agenda, they have been forced to contend with Pakistan’s crippling foreign debt.
—Madiha Afzal, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2019
The country of 105 million people is sinking under foreign debt and contending with a severe shortage of hard currency.
—Claire Parker, Washington Post, 10 Dec. 2023
In other cases, governments simply opted to default rather than make the painful cuts to social programs that would have been necessary to service their foreign debt on schedule.
—Shantayanan Devarajan, Foreign Affairs, 4 Aug. 2022
This has not proved fatal in the Sri Lankan case, since Chinese debt accounts for only about ten percent of the country’s foreign debt and an even smaller share of the debt that must be serviced this year.
—Shantayanan Devarajan, Foreign Affairs, 4 Aug. 2022
Egypt’s long-standing dependence on fuel and food imports has bloated its foreign debt, thanks in part to the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic.
—Lisa Anderson, Foreign Affairs, 25 Oct. 2023
The current administration has strongly favored India, but many Maldivians worry about Indian military presence on their shores, as well as mounting foreign debt.
—Sushmita Pathak, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'foreign debt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near foreign debt
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“Foreign debt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foreign%20debt. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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