What do you mean by &quot;debt is meant to be repaid?&quot; Debt is an asset for the lender, and debt service names it in l an income generated asset. Where it is not better for the borrower to pay it off now vs m continuing to pay debt service, and where the terms of the debt alow that (or where the debt service can be transferred by paying off one lender by borrowing from a new one), then it can be mutually beneficial to the parties involved not to pay off the debt. Debt does not have some cosmic purpose outside the interests of the parties involved. You may have a mental model of debt that preferred it being paid off, but that&#x27;s quite possibly an irrational preference outside the circumstances of as particular debt.