Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - owing

~ adj 1 especially BrE if money is owing, it has not yet been paid to the person who should receive it  (There's still over -100 owing to the bank.) 2 owing to because of  (Owing to a lack of funds, the project will not continue next year.)  ( USAGE NOTE: OWING WORD CHOICE owing to, due to, because of, thanks to Owing to is less common in spoken English than due to, but both are slightly formal and are often used in official notices or public statements All flights into London Heathrow have been delayed due to/owing to thick fog. You would usually use because of in spoken English All the flights have been delayed because of fog. Thanks to is not formal and is used especially to explain why or how something good has happened Thanks to the public's generosity, we've been able to build two new schools in the area. GRAMMAR You do not use owing to directly after the verb to be, but with other verbs. Some people think due to should only be used after the verb to be, but many people use it with other verbs as well The accident was largely due to human error. | Prices have risen due to an increase in demand. )