European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 3, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes sunday March 3, 1991money matters j Dollar watch shown below Are the highest Dollar Exchange rates for the week of feb. 24 March 2 compared with Dollar rates for the same period one year and five years ago. British Pound one Pound would Cost you $1 90 $1.65 1991 1990 $1.45 1986 German Mark one Dollar would buy you 2 30 1.50 1991 1.68 1990 1986 a military Exchange rate italian lira one Dollar would buy you 1266 1149 i 1991 1990 Spanish peseta one Dollar would buy you 95.50 110 1555 1991 1990 144 1986 ass Dollar moves up growing optimism about the chances for the . Economy to recover on the heels of the Middle East cease fire helped the Dollar surge higher at weeks end. _ late Friday the Dollar was trading near 1.54 Marks and one British Pound was Selling for just under $1.90 on the world Market. Both rates Are significantly stronger than a week ago when the Dollar was at 1,505 Marks and one Pound was Worth $1,945. Foreign Exchange traders shrugged off a report showing a decline in the United states leading economic indicators Friday afternoon and instead focused on the . Military Victory Over Iraq. Most economists Are betting that the end of the persian Gulf War will boost consumer Confidence in the states and help end the recession. Some traders think the Dollar will reach 1.60 Marks in the next three months and 1.90 Marks within a year. Unconfirmed reports that iraqi president Saddam Hussein May seek political Asylum in Algeria also aided the Dollar late Friday said Yvan Weill head of the Treasury department with merchants National Bank in Frankfurt Germany. There Are still some Dollar sceptics in Europe though. Julian Gal Low International economist with Chase investment Bank in London said that a the . Economy is still very  a Callow said it will be Tough for the Dollar to crack through 1.55 Marks in. The Short run. Six months from now he sees the Dollar hovering around that level. The military Exchange rate in Germany is 1,50 Marks for a Dollar through monday and in the United kingdom one British Pound is Selling for $1.95, the stars and Stripe anti recession package issued to increase lending by Banks Washington Federal regulators on Friday announced a package of accounting changes aimed at getting gun shy Banks to increase their lending and help pull  out of recession. A the administration zeroing in on a. Shortage of credit it views As a prime cause of the economic slump has been prodding regulators to Issue the changes since president Bush summoned them to a White House meeting in november. Four agencies a the Federal Reserve the comptroller of the currency the office of Thrift supervision and the Federal Deposit insurance corp. A issued the rules jointly. Together they oversee the nations 12,000 Banks and 2.400 savings institutions. A we Hope that the actions taken today will encourage lenders to make prudent Loans and assure that examiners perform their reviews in a balanced sensible Way a Treasury Secretary Nicholas f. Brady said in a statement Friday. The credit crunch package is on of the few. Actions the administration has advanced to combat the recession. It has dismissed most democratic proposals such As government Public works programs As unwise measures whose effect would come Tod late in any Case. Many members of Congress have been pressuring banking authorities to move swiftly. Lawmakers from new England where business people Are complaining they can to get Loans have been particularly Active. Critics however w Orry that the government May be going Down the same Road it took Early in the savings and loan crisis using accounting gimmicks to hide institutions weaknesses. Specifically the Rule changes would a permit Banks to split Loans into two a a Good or performing loan and a bad or delinquent loan a when a Borrower is still making partial payments. Currently Banks list the entire loan As bad. A allow institutions to avoid fully writing Down real estate collateral when markets have slumped. Instead Banks will be allowed to make an estimate of what the real estate would be Worth Over a Lorimer term. A a a a _ a a. A. A a a a Quot a a  Banks to disclose More details about problem Loans separating those on Phich some recovery is expected from others that Are total losses. A. Quot a define less strictly which Loans must be classified As a highly leveraged transactions a a category that includes Many corporate buyout Loans. 1. A encourage weak Banks to continue making sound and prudent  Tell institutions under pressure to diversify their loan portfolios not to do so at the expense of forgoing a Good profitable loan. All of the policies except the first on splitting Loans would take effect immediately. Securities and Exchange commission chairman Richard Breeden whose Agency would have to acquiesce to the changes for stockholder owned Banks has expressed concern about splitting Loans and has not agreed to that measure. A. A a v of Kuwait los Angeles apr skilled workers who can help rebuild Kuwait a petrochemical Industry Are in Short Supply and engineering and construction firms Are bidding for the specialists. While companies with business in the Middle East have been setting up special phone lines and personnel offices to handle Job applicants finding the right person Isnit easy.  a a it a a very competitive Market right now and the Engineer who has the right skills is really going to be in the Catbird seat a said spokesman Ron Lovecchio of Jacobs engineering group a Pasadena company with a 28-year history in Kuwait. V a a we re two Days into peace and we already see that the Drill pushers want $2,000 a Day and maintenance people Are talking about getting $80 an hour. This is the bar talk in the Industry a said Richard Slater a senior vice president at a . To i Providence . Up gov. Bruce g. Sundlun vowed Friday that the state will move ahead with a 10-Day government shutdown and hundreds of Lay offs after unionized state workers rejected an alternative. Sundlun said the first Day of the shutdown will be Friday. The remaining Days will fall primarily on mondays and fridays through the end of june Union leaders vowed to go to court to Stop the shutdown but Sundlun said if they do and prevail he will be forced to Lay off More state workers. As it is Sundlun said his administration plans to mail Layoff notices monday to hundreds of Union personnel. He initially pegged the number of layoffs at 61 0, but his spokeswoman said 125 of those Are management employees who were sent Pink slips earlier this week so the actual number of layoffs will be about 475. A a. In All slate government is eliminating 1,000 positions this fiscal year but 400 of cobs. A. A Slater warned that the kuwaitis with whom he deals Are eager to give business to . Companies but could be alienated if they feel they Are being gouged. A making a Short term killing Isnit the Best policy for the Industry a he said. Jacobs pays starting engineers $60,000 to $80,000 a year and adds a 30 percent Bonus free housing and. Other Perks for Mideast service / the pressure now will be for those wages to climb higher engineering and construction Industry officials said. At Parsons \ corp. In Pasadena spokeswoman Debra Williams said the company was hiring hundreds of engineers even before Iraq invaded Kuwait mainly Oil and Gas specialists for projects in the Mideast and on alaskans North a there was already a major expansion going on in several Oil markets a Williams said. A a. A a a��.���. A a a and its not just engineering but also those firms that manufacture the heavy equipment for refineries these multimillion Dollar Hydro crackers and whatever. Those industries also have so much work that Kuwait is just going to add to a full san Francisco based Bechtel group the second largest . Construction and engineering company has a letter of intent from state run kuwaiti Petroleum corp. To be project management contractor. Spokesman Mike Kidder said Bechtel will Send 4,300 employees and Suchon tractors to Kuwait. There will be plenty of work to share. An estimated $10 billion to $20 billion of work per year in engineering and construction will be divided up among com panics big and Small executives said. Moves them Are vacancies that will not be filled. The Job cuts and government shutdown Are designed to help offset a deficit estimated at More than $200 million this fiscal year which Sundlun has termed the Warst of any state in the nation As a percentage of its budget. Sundlun a announcement came As the state boosted income tax rates by 22 percent Friday and stopped paying forthe dental care of adults who receive medicaid or general Public assistance. The cutback is expected to save the state $465,000. The tax rate was raised to 28 percent from 22.96 percent of the Federal Levy. The states gasoline tax will Rise another 5 cents a gallon and corporate income taxes go up 11 percent by april 1. A the Sundlun administration last week told unionized state employees they could avoid layoffs and the shutdown if they agreed to a 10 percent pay Cut this fiscal year which they could make up later through vacation time or when they leave state service. The largest state employees Union Council 94 of the american federation of state county and municipal employees counted the votes of its 7,000 members earlier Friday afternoon. The membership rejected the pay Cut by a 2-1 margin despite a recommendation from Union leadership that they accept it. Sundlun said the vote of Council 94 was the death Knell for a be pay Cut alternative. He expressed disappointment that Union members rejected a proposal that could have saved jobs. Council 94�?Ts state vice president Jack Palazzo said the unions rank and file expressed concern that the pay Cut proposal did not contain sufficient guarantees against future layoffs. He said if the state attempts to shut Down state government and furlough workers a meaning they would not be paid Tor the Days government closes a then Council 94 will go to court to seek a restraining order