underspend
verb [ I or T ]
FINANCE, ECONOMICS uk/ˌʌndəˈspend/ usunderspentto spend less than you are able to or than was planned:
Departments that are underspending are being allowed to carry unused parts of their budgets forward.
underspend on sth If we continue to underspend on the network, problems will build up.
Big oil firms are underspending their exploration budgets.
Compare
overspend verb
underspend
noun [ C or U ]
FINANCE, ECONOMICS uk/ˈʌndəspend/ usunderspentthe act of spending less than you are able to or than was planned, or the amount spent:
The Scottish Executive had a year-end underspend of £750m.
They agreed that he could carry forward any underspend from this year's budget.
an underspend on sth The underspend on the capital investment programme might be due to cutting corners.
Compare
overspend noun