Banks don't seem to have the same need to please customers in the way other companies do, says Isabel Morton

READING THE weekend papers I found myself despairing of the entire planet and this country in particular. Almost every square inch of the newspapers (when not providing details of McCain's right hand "pit bull", Sarah Palin) were dominated by speculation about the Budget and how it may affect our ailing economy.

The Government's decision to bring the budget forward by six weeks, to October, was probably supposed to calm us all down after the summer from hell. But the announcement had the opposite effect and the nation is now in a state of angst as people speculate about the details of what the Government might deliver and who we should blame if they don't give us what we want.

Banks were blamed for the sub-prime mess-up and the willy-nilly handing out of 100 per cent mortgages to people who had virtually no chance of servicing them.

And, as it became clear that things were getting worse, the banks, by then under severe pressure themselves, started coming down hard and heavy on their customers.

As businesses go, banking is a curious one. Most other businesses have to keep their clients and customers sweet, particularly in bad times, for fear that they may move their business elsewhere. This rule does not apply to the banking world and it didn't take too long for it to register that it was pointless attacking them, so the nation looked around for someone else to blame.

The Government was next in line for abuse, initially because TDs didn't cancel their holidays and return to the Dáil toute de suite to sort out our woes, and now for unnerving us further by bringing forward the Budget.

The Bold Brians can't win, one way or the other, but particularly not at a time when most of the world is in a state of economic crises.

The main concern this time is that the Irish property market will not be given the help that it needs to get moving again.

It doesn't take a politician, an economist or a banker to figure out that the Irish Budget plans are largely irrelevant in the scheme of things, and that, as a nation, we rely heavily on the US.

If we needed further proof of our reliance on that country, we got it this week when Irish banks gained over €2 billion in value overnight when the US government stepped in and took over the ailing home-loan giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

One has to wonder if the Government would be in a strong enough position to save one or more of the big Irish banks should the same thing happen here?

It would be nice to have confirmation of same. Perhaps Brian Cowen should consider announcing the Government's intention to step in if required. It should not be too difficult for him to do so, given that the banks have been doing little else but pronouncing their strength and denying that they are in any sort of trouble.

Already, hours after the US government saved Fannie and Freddie, there are suggestions that, as the wholesale cost of money is likely to fall, Irish banks could be able to fund more mortgage lending.

And before we start kicking up our heels in delight at the prospect of it all being hunky dory again, it may be worth noting a few details.

The worst may be over, but the fallout is ongoing. It may take some time for the true state of the nation's finances to become apparent. Let's just hope that some thought has been given to saving for a rainy day, as we have been having our fair share of them of late.

Last week a number of senior Irish bankers fielded questions from politicians at the Dáil's Finance Committee. They all appeared to have been singing from the same hymn sheet and claimed to be "open for business".

According to AIB managing director Donal Forde, the only thing that seems to have deteriorated in the banking world is the "standard of borrower". Now why are we not surprised?

Pat Farrell, chief executive of the Irish Banking Federation, said that 35,000 mortgages with a total value of €7.6 billion were issued between April and June of this year.

In the same breath Farrell said the fall in house prices "has some way to go" and that he would not forecast how far he expected prices to fall nor when he expected the slide to end.

One must wonder if all of the 35,000 mortgages recently issued were stress-tested to allow for Farrell's prediction of a further fall in house prices?

We have another four and a half weeks to wait before the Budget is announced. That's a lifetime in the worlds of politics and finance. So don't hold your breath.