不良債権(ふりょうさいけん)

ふりょうさいけん
noun
bad debt; non-performing loan
formalfinanceeconomics
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(ふりょうさいけん)を処理(しょり)する。
To deal with bad debts.
銀行(ぎんこう)の不良債権(ふりょうさいけん)が膨(ふく)らんでいる。
The bank's bad debts are growing.
バブル崩壊後(ほうかいご)、多(おお)くの銀行(ぎんこう)が不良債権(ふりょうさいけん)問題(もんだい)に苦(くる)しんだ。
After the bubble burst, many banks suffered from bad debt problems.

Composed of 不良(ふりょう) (defective, bad) + 債権(さいけん) (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

Etymology

The 不良債権(ふりょうさいけん)問題(もんだい) was a defining issue of Japan's "失(うしな)われた十年(じゅうねん)" (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 words

  • 債権(さいけん): claim, receivable — the right to collect a debt
  • 債務(さいむ): debt, liability — the obligation to repay
  • 貸(か)し倒(だお)れ: bad debt, uncollectible loan — a more colloquial term

Related Words

Related: 債務(さいむ) (debt, liability)
general
Added 2026.3.31 5:17 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
20500/20921_furyousaiken