Liberal continuing to spend zero yen (7)
I believe the answer is:
longing
'yen' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for longing that I've seen before include "Earnest, heartfelt desire" , "thirsty" , "Hunger" , "Yearning desire" , "Deeply felt desire" .)