71.   Banks do endeavour to tighten their lending procedures and improve the quality of their loan portfolios.

72.   Besides leaving the auto leasing business, Henry Meyer III, KeyCorp chairman and chief executive, said the company is reducing its total auto loan portfolio.

73.   Citicorp continued to make improvements in its bad realty loan portfolio.

74.   He adds that the group is also targeting to maintain a moderate growth for its loan portfolio through the group finance company, Affin Finance Bhd.

75.   Improving loan portfolios is an important step on the path to establishing a modern financial system, he added.

76.   In addition, Maybank also has a diversified and well-balanced loan portfolio with no major concentration in the risky sectors and its large loan exposure is well-managed.

77.   In particular, the decline in share markets and regional currencies and the subsequent liquidity shortages in the region accelerated the deterioration in the loans portfolio, he added.

78.   It added that its hire purchase loans portfolio has been cautiously maintained at a manageable size.

79.   It said the banking institutions had been requested to re-examine their expansion plans, especially in the light of resource constraints and concerns over their loan portfolio.

80.   It has a good deposit base and a very conservative loan portfolio.