purchasing power

Noun

purchasing power (uncountable)

1. The amount of goods and services that can be bought with a unit of currency.
   • The exchange rates do not always reflect true differences in the purchasing power of currencies.
   • But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.2013 June 1, “Towards the end of poverty”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 11
2. The amount of goods and services that can be bought by consumers.
   • High interest rates are affecting the purchasing power of homeowners.

   Synonyms:

   spending power, buying power

3. The ability of a large collective or company to negotiate more favourable prices and terms than a smaller group or company.
   • Large supermarkets usually have better purchasing power than small, local shops.