Primarily a legal or financial term for a duty to pay money or perform an act, often contrasted with 債権 (credit/claim).
Antonyms: 債権
The company is saddled with a large amount of debt.
You must fulfill your contractual obligations.
The company is carrying a large debt.
One must fulfill the obligation as stipulated in the contract.
He finally repaid his debt.
An obligation arises upon signing the contract.
借金 is the everyday word for money one has borrowed, while 債務 is a formal legal/financial term covering all kinds of obligations, not just loans.
債務 specifically denotes a legal obligation to pay, whereas 債 is the broader formal term for a debt or bond, often used as a suffix.
credit; claim; obligation
Compound of 債 (debt, loan) and 務 (duty, task). The spelling is conventionally associated with the meaning of legal or financial obligation.
debt problem; debt issue
debt relief