deficit

Deficit

A situation in which liabilities exceed assets, expenditures exceed income, imports exceed exports, or losses exceed profits.

Notes:

A deficit is the opposite of a surplus. If a country imports more than it exports, it is said to have a trade deficit. Many scholars feel that a trade deficit can not be sustained in perpetuity.

See also: Asset, Income, Liability, Perpetuity, Profit, Surplus

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Deficit

An excess of liabilities over assets, of losses over profits, or of expenditure over income.

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deficit

1. A negative retained earnings balance. A deficit results when the accumulated losses and dividend payments of a business exceed its earnings.

2. See operating loss.