A clause in a commercial loan facility agreement conferring an 'absolute discretion' on the lender to make progressive construction finance available may be construed as conferring a discretion whether to provide the finance at all, not merely a discretion as to timing and mechanism of payments. The one-sided nature of such an arrangement does not, without extrinsic evidence, justify departing from the literal text. Such a construction may be sufficiently clear to support a summary strike-out of a claim alleging breach of an obligation to provide the finance.
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