The low growth environment that has prevailed in the finance market for the past couple of years has been a godsend for banks working to restructure their balance sheets. Without it, lenders might have had to "prioritise" their lending.Bankers on a panel at yesterday's Finsia Financial Services Conference in Sydney said the highest priority since the financial crisis has been to strengthen their balance sheets and make them sustainable. "The challenge has been on the funding side," said Rob Whitfield, the chief executive of Westpac Institutional Bank. "Slow credit demand and deleveraging have helped with that. Our view is that those conditions will remain for the medium term."That allows us to work on the funding side and meet customer demand. Our appetite for risk has not changed."Whitfield said that if his outlook proved to be wrong, and stronger credit growth returned, funding pressure might force the bank to "prioritise to our relationships".Bendigo and Adelaide Bank chief executive Mike Hirst said 80 per cent of the bank's funding came from its deposits.Hirst said: "Restructuring the balance sheet is not the issue. The issue is how we fund growth in the economy when, in the past, we have relied on offshore capital. Right now, we don't have an answer."Panellists discussed the prospects of getting superannuation funds to invest more in corporate bonds and at how to attract Asian capital. Julie Hunter, head of loan product, global loans and transactions banking, in ANZ's international and institutional division, said "Asia was a very important part of the story."ANZ was lead manager for the BHP Billiton big bond issue this week. Hunter said 20 per cent of the issue was sold to Asian investors. "That is typical now," she said.