noun · neutral

public spending

/ˈpʌblɪk ˈspɛndɪŋ/PUB·lic SPEND·ing

Band 5-6task2speaking

money spent by the government on services, projects, and benefits

Examples

Many economists argue for targeted public spending on education.

Cutting public spending during a recession can deepen the downturn.

Public spending on infrastructure rose significantly last year.

Band 8 sentence

Targeted public spending on education and healthcare can improve equality and long-term productivity.

Collocations

  • increase public spending
  • reduce public spending
  • public spending on education

Word family

public adjectivespend verbspending noun

Common mistakes

spending of publicpublic spending

spendingsspending

Say it for a higher band

5public expend6government spending7+public spending

Synonyms

government spending

Easily confused

government spending

Government spending on healthcare increased this quarter.

Related words

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In Society & Government

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