Word: creditably
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...raft of loans (with interest rates as low as 3.5%) offered by Thailand's state-owned banks have helped her turn her fortunes around. She took out a personal loan, with which she consolidated her credit card debt; she used another to buy her car; and now she's applied for a mortgage to pay for the apartment. Soon she will open her own IT consultancy. Never mind that interest rates might rise, that the property market might fall, or that Wacharee earns a modest $1,500 a month. To her, and millions of other Thais, the good times...
...Thaksin's critics say some of that confidence might be misplaced. They fear the government has hooked consumers on easy credit and increased debt in the countryside while placing considerable strain on government coffers. "It's not sustainable in the long run," says Somchai Jitsuchon, research director at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), an independent economic think tank. "The concern is that when the government eventually stops pumping in money, whenever that is, the economy will collapse." Meanwhile, the country's economic success has diverted attention from Thaksin's more controversial policies, including this year's deadly crackdown...
...Thaksin's team is worried about the heat in the property market, they're not admitting to it. Buoyed by recent upgrades from international credit-ratings agencies, the government has no plans to slow down the lending by state-owned financial institutions, which now account for almost half the loans in the system, up from about 15% before the crisis. "Commercial banks were hit so hard by the storm of '97 that they have become too cautious about lending money," says finance chief Suchart. That, he explains, is why the government has pushed state-owned banks to lend liberally...
...their dud loans from the crash either wiped out by the government or transferred to asset-management companies. "Because the government cleared the [state-owned] banks' bad debts... they think they can now afford to lend madly," says Somchai. He fears that the banks may be taking on increasing credit risks. "If the economy has a hiccup," he says, "the state-owned banks are going to be in real trouble...
There was a battered offensive line, a hobbled tailback and an experienced Lafayette team with wins over Princeton and Columbia to its credit...