1.   A credit crunch is the name economists give to a sudden reluctance among banks to lend money.

2.   That would cause a severe credit crunch.

3.   Typically, a credit crunch happens when banks start to worry about the creditworthiness of their borrowers.

4.   It also took measures to ease the so-called credit crunch, mainly by relaxing regulatory pressures in order to encourage bank lending.

5.   Analysts here say Japanese banks are not yet suffering any credit crunch, since they are still able to borrow foreign currencies from the market.

6.   An international credit crunch is looming, in which many will not be able to borrow.

7.   Analysts said that the Fed noted the potential credit crunch in a brief statement explaining its rate cut.

8.   And in both cases the credit crunch took on a life of its own.

9.   And it must be prepared to suffer a credit crunch whenever people want to convert their assets to, say, dollars or yen.

10.   Argentina needs an investment-led increase in productivity to escape from further credit crunches, the report notes.