promise to pay

基本解释

If a promise to pay someone money in the future isn’t a debt, what is it?
在未来支付金钱的承诺,如果不是负债，还能是什么呢？
A bond, of course, is just an IOU, a promise to pay back money with interest by certain dates.
债券，当然，这只是一个借据，承诺到期归还并支付利息的纸条。
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Investment bank A would guarantee the credit worthiness of energy firm B and charge a fee for the promise to pay should energy firm B go bust.
投资银行A 将保证能源公司B的信用，从为能源公司B破产的付款承诺中收取费用。

It consists of a promise to pay, usually denominated in currency, and there are both long-term and short-term debt instruments.
是一种付款承诺,通常是货币支付形式,有长期债券,以及短期债券
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According to a time-honored tradition in finance, it says that it's a promise to pay $1, but it's not worth $1 today.
由于资金有时间价值,他说他承诺支付一美元,但在此时此刻它并不值一美元
耶鲁公开课 - 金融市场课程节选
The British Government will never promise to pay you 10% more each year because they can't do it.
英国政府永远都不会承诺给你们,每年支付你们高于10%的利息,因为他们根本就做不到
耶鲁公开课 - 金融市场课程节选

If a promise to pay someone money in the future isn't a debt, what is it?
ECONOMIST: Buttonwood: A trillion here, $500 billion there