balance-of-payments problem
- noun
- Specialized
:
problema de balanza de pagos
- The country's balance-of-payments problem has led to rising unemployment and inflation.
- balance-of-payments problem of developing countries
Examples
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Addressing the balance-of-payments problem requires careful management of both imports and exports.
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To pursue economic adjustment programs that may help solve balance of payments problems, political leaders must carefully consider the fear of intensified protests that often follow various austerity measures.
Academic text (1995) -
Discussion of the balance of payments problem of the 1920s and 1930s included careful attention.
Academic text (1994) -
There would be no balance-of-payments problems between, say, England and France because both countries would be using the same currency.
Academic text (1990) -
The second point has to do with Martino's observation that balance-of-payments problems would cease to exist within Europe after currency reform.
Academic text (1990) -
The first signs of balance of payments problems came in 1936 with a small deficit of 18 million, but this tripled to 55 million in 1937 and reached 250 million in 1939.
Academic text (1993) -
A country experiencing a balance-of-payments problem could borrow from the IMF within its quota subscription and was expected to pay the IMF back promptly.
Academic text (1992) -
Most less-developed countries, particularly those in sub-Saharan Africa, have sunk so deep into debt over the past 40 years that their balance-of-payments problems have become too chronic for mere IMF quotas.
Academic text (1992) -
The first two chapters of The International Monetary Fund and Economic Stabilization: The Argentine Case acquaint readers with economic development and balance-of-payments problems of developing countries, the role of the IMF in solving them, and the academic debate over the Argentine case.
Academic text (1997) -
Many economists are concerned about the balance-of-payments problem affecting trade relations.
Synonyms
38
4.7
A country buys more from other countries than it sells to them
Antonyms
- Specialized
11
3.5
A country sells more goods to other countries than it buys from them
Surface Forms
Morphology
balance-of-payments + problem
The phrase is partly compositional: a learner who knows 'balance' and 'payments' can infer it refers to the net position of a country's payments and receipts, and 'problem' clearly signals a difficulty. However, 'balance-of-payments' is a technical economic term whose full scope and implications are not fully predictable from everyday knowledge of the parts for a B1 learner, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Balance-of-payments problem comes from the idea of a country's money record or a pair of scales that show money coming in from exports and money going out for imports, which is the balance of payments. If more money goes out than comes in, the 'balance' is wrong and the country has money problems, so the phrase means the country is paying out more than it receives.