And bankers increasingly are putting limits on how much they will lend to even the most creditworthy corporations.

A Western banker here puts it more bluntly: "1991 looks like a disaster for Vietnam."

Investment bankers and insurance analysts said they expected, as one banker put it, "significant interest in this situation."

The banker put a companionable arm around Tobias's shoulder.

But bankers and brokers put the price at about $900 million.

A foreign banker based in Madrid put it a little differently.

As one former central banker put it: "It's more a matter of timing than just volume.

The banker put both hands against the table beside his plate, and Jessica thought he was going to push himself back, leave in a rage.

The bankers put us in an airless room with no windows and pitiful food and basically said, "Don't come out until you reach an agreement."

The banker puts together different contributions to make a syndicated loan.