31.   Many banks borrowed at low short-term rates to pour money into higher-yielding longer-term bonds that appeared to offer safe returns with little effort.

32.   Many banks here have borrowed heavily to invest in government bonds, only to see the value of those investments plummet as rates for newer bonds began to skyrocket.

33.   One of those structural issues is the way Thai banks borrow the money they lend.

34.   Open global capital markets made it possible for Thai banks to borrow tens of billions of dollars from their foreign counterparts.

35.   Several also speculated that a cut might also involve the discount rate, the rate at which banks can borrow from the Fed.

36.   That rate is less important now because most banks do not borrow directly from the Fed.

37.   That would make it more expensive for the bank to borrow money and to do business with customers who demand a more credit-worthy bank.

38.   The Bangko Sentral also opened a special loan window for the first time in two months that will allow cash-strapped banks to borrow from the central bank.

39.   The banks borrow money at the low short-term rates and lend it to the government at higher long-term rates to turn a profit.

40.   The Bank of Japan would have to keep interest rates low to allow other banks to borrow more cheaply to rescue any bank troubled by bad debts.