1.   If some of those loans sour, banks may stuff more loans into the securities to make them safer.

2.   The company is relaxing its effort to set aside provisions against sour loans, an exercise it started earlier than most its French rivals.

3.   The company is relaxing its effort to set aside provisions against sour loans, an exercise it started earlier than most of its French rivals.

4.   The selloff has pushed the shares of some banks, which are struggling to dispose of billions of dollars in sour loans, to precarious levels.

5.   The sour loans were part of a pro-poor thrust of the church to lend to tricycle drivers and operators, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said.

6.   There were signs that banks may be facing credit problems after a more than a year of record profits and fewer sour loans.

7.   With this scenario, the banks cannot expect the volume of sour loans to drop.

8.   Economic Minister Heizo Takenaka said that falling prices pose a problem for banks trying to wipe out their sour loans because it hurts corporate profits and depresses land values.

9.   Many investors have been hoping the government would aid banks in disposing of sour loans.

10.   This makes lending by banks to the private sector less attractive while risks are higher for sour loans or bad debt.