external liability
noun [ C, usually plural ]
ukusplural external liabilities ACCOUNTING
an amount of money that a company owes to lenders or creditors (= people or organizations that have lent it money, or sold it goods), compared to money that is owed to shareholders:
The company's restructuring has resulted in a reduction in its external liabilities.
ECONOMICS
an amount of money that a country owes to another country:
A significant part of the country's external debt is short-term external liabilities which, at the end of March, stood at $11.1 billion.