floating debt

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablefinancebusiness

   Money that a company or government owes and must repay soon, usually within a year.

   Grammar: Countable: use 'a floating debt' or 'floating debts'.

   Patterns

   • a floating debt of $...
   • repay a floating debt
   • short-term floating debt

   The firm has a floating debt of about two million dollars due in June.

   Analysts worry that the government's floating debt is growing faster than its income.

   They used short-term loans to cover their floating debt.

2. 2noununcountablefinancebusiness

   The part of a country's total debt that consists of short-term bills rather than long-term bonds.

   Grammar: Often used without 'a' when talking about this category as a whole.

   Patterns

   • manage floating debt
   • issue floating debt

   The treasury manages floating debt by selling short-term bills.

   Economists distinguish floating debt from long-term obligations.

Word forms

Common combinations

floating debt of

The company reported a floating debt of $500,000.

repay floating debt

They sold assets to repay floating debt.

short-term floating debt

Short-term floating debt must be refinanced every few months.

manage floating debt

The finance team manages floating debt carefully.

Synonyms and how they differ

current liabilities

A broader accounting term for all debts due within a year, not just borrowed money.

short-term debt

Similar, but 'short-term debt' can include any borrowing due soon, while 'floating debt' often refers specifically to bills and similar instruments.

Opposites

Word family

float verb

To start selling shares or bonds to raise money.

floater noun

A bond or other security whose interest rate changes with market rates.

Commonly confused: floating debt or national debt? floating debt or floating rate?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “floating debt”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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