1.
bad debt; non-performing loan (NPL)
A loan or receivable that is unlikely to be repaid, typically because the borrower has defaulted or become insolvent. A key term in banking and finance.
不良債権を処理する。
To deal with bad debts.
銀行の不良債権が膨らんでいる。
The bank's bad debts are growing.
バブル崩壊後、多くの銀行が不良債権問題に苦しんだ。
After the bubble burst, many banks suffered from bad debt problems.
Composed of 不良 (defective, bad) + 債権 (claim, receivable, credit). A central concept in Japanese economic history, particularly during the post-bubble period of the 1990s when massive non-performing loans nearly collapsed the banking system.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 不良債権を処理する: to dispose of bad debts
- 不良債権問題: bad debt problem
- 不良債権比率: non-performing loan ratio
- 不良債権の処分: write-off of bad debts
HISTORICAL NOTE:
The 不良債権問題 was a defining issue of Japan's "失われた十年" (Lost Decade) in the 1990s. Banks had lent heavily during the bubble economy, and when land and stock prices collapsed, these loans became unrecoverable.
RELATED TERMS:
- 債権: claim, receivable — the right to collect a debt
- 債務: debt, liability — the obligation to repay
- 貸し倒れ: bad debt, uncollectible loan — a more colloquial term