To receive
money from another party with the agreement that the money will be
repaid. Most borrowers borrow at
interest, meaning they pay a certain percentage of the
principal amount to the
lender as
compensation for borrowing. Most
loans also have a
maturity date by which time the borrower must have repaid the loan. Borrowing occurs informally from family and friends, at the retail level through a bank, and also on a large scale involving governments and
institutional investors.