How can a country with surplus at the same time be in debt of trilluion?

I do not get it? What makes a country rich and yet such country is said to be in debt?

How can a country with surplus at the same time be in debt of trilluion?
The surplus refers to per annum funds in excess of obligations, whereas debt is short- and long-term money owed to individuals and other entities.
Reply:You're confusing the terms. Surplus doesn't mean rich. It just means THIS YEAR you spent less than you planned on spending. I could be in debt for a million dollars and tell myself I'm only going to spend $10,000 a year of my income to cut back on the things I buy. If I only spend $9,000 that year, I have a SURPLUS of $1,000, but I still have a million dollars of DEBT. The two words have less to do with each other than people first think.
Reply:its called the game of borrowing money my friend
Reply:Mordern day Russia
Reply:A surplus? No government has any money. A government has to pay for their expenditures by taxes or borrowing. By borrowing they are just procrastinating because the taxpayer has to pay the interest and pay off the loan.





A surplus just means that the government has taxed their citizens too much. Of course they never give it back but find another way to spend it.