European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 23, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 b the stars and stripes monday september 23,1991 a a Money matter today s tip when Wall Street analysts who follow the retailing business size up the american consumer these Days they see a Tough customer. That they say spells subdued prospects at Best for the nations Chain store operators heading into the key fall and Christmas Selling seasons. The Economy a bid to recover from the recession has  stirred up no dramatic resurgence in demand for most types of consumer goods. Buying on credit in particular has been slow to come Back in style. A a subpar consumption recovery is unfolding As expected with real consumer outlays rising at a 3 percent annual rate in the Middle quarters of 1991,�?� said economist Stephen Roach at Morgan Stanley amp co. A while that a a decided improve mint from the 2.5 percent decline of the preceding two quarters it Falls Well Short of the 5 percent trajectory of earlier recoveries a Roach  rates London up fridays rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted Al $3-19.00 an ounce Silver at $4.09. Sept 19 sept 20 British pound.1.7275 1.7255 German mark.1.6860 1.6925 French franc.5,7425 5.7830 Dulch guilder.1.0975 1.9090 belgian franc.34.8200 34.9400 italian lira.1,261.65 1.270.70 Swiss franc.1.4750 1.4755 greek drachma.187.20 108.14 turkish lira.4,647.20 4,671.00 saudi arabian nyal.3.7502 3,7502 Spanish peseta.105.76 106.40 portuguese escudo.144.70 145.47 Canadian dollar.1.1365 1.1350 austrian schilling.11.8600 11.9225 norwegian Krone.6.5980 6.6370 danish Krone. 6.5125 6.5430 these tire  and can he related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will he 1.66 through monday based on fridays noontime  plans Cable to Deal by the new York times in its largest diversification Effort to Date hallmark cards inc. Has agreed to invest about is billion in Cen com Cable association which has directly and indirectly about 550,000 Cable television subscribers. The Deal will instantly make hallmark one of the nations largest Cable operators. The investment will be made through a hallmark subsidiary Crown Media which already has a stake in Cable systems in Wisconsin that serve 150,000 subscribers. Hallmark a privately held company based in Kansas City mo., had sales of $2.7 billion last year and began diversifying into Cable two years ago. A we arc in the communications business and the greeting card is the most prominent manifestation of that a said Irvine Hockaday jr., Hallmarks president and chief executive. A we see in Cable an attractive investment on its  world Bank plans to target poor environment women Washington up the world Bank says it is expanding its commit ments to nations to better serve the poor the environment and women and to place its funds in areas such As Eastern Europe and the soviet Union. In its annual report the International lending institution said it increased its financial commitments in the fiscal year that ended june 30 to $22.7 billion from $20.7 billion and May commit As much As $25 billion this year. The amount actually disbursed however fell to $6.4 billion in fiscal 1991 from $9.3 billion. The rest of the Money committed was scheduled to be distributed in future years. New areas of spending would include a former communist bloc nations in Central Europe and Eastern Europe received $2.9 billion in loan commitments during fiscal 1991, or $1 billion More than the previous year. Half of the Money went to Poland. A China received nearly $1 billion in increased funds. Egypt and Turkey also were awarded More. Yugoslavia Chili Mexico Venezuela and Tanzania were among countries that got less. A the persian Gulf War led to $1 billion in increased lending. A in a new program various member nations pledged $7.4 billion in support for poverty stricken sub Sahara Africa. A lending for the Urban poor was expected to increase by 45 percent in fiscal 1991-93. A greater allotments for human resource development in 1991 included $2.25 billion for education projects. In 1990, the world Bank awarded More than $1 billion for education for the first time. A about 40 percent of Bank projects approved in fiscal 1991 included specific recommendations to integrate women into the development process. A the Bank a environmental staff was boosted to 140 from just a handful a few years ago. The Bank approved 14 environmental projects and 40 percent of All projects approved had environmental components. World Bank vice president Williwa pen Hans said that in Eastern Europe the water pollution is so bad that some water is even unfit for Industrial purposes. Even As the Bank a annual report was released it was outdated. Since the reports publication the soviet Union and the Baltic states having toppled communism applied for membership in the Bank. The lending institution already has 155 member nations. A the events of the past year have brought the Bank much closer to its founders vision of a global Economy and membership a says the annual report. The world Bank a new president and Oil ministers prepare for open conference chief executive officer Lewis Preston  Hazard a guess As to How much in Loans the soviet Union could receive. But he noted that the Bank has a significant head room a or unused lending authority $61.7 billion. The Bank already has set $30 million to initiate technical assistance for the soviets. Still Preston told reporters that anticipated new lending to the soviet Union will not result in less Aid for Africa a i emphasize we Are just As concerned about Africa As we Ever were and i can Promise you that the image of the Bank a changing its policies is just not  Wapenhaus also said the Bank would not shift Money from Arab countries to Central Europe and Eastern Europe. But he said the areas shift to a Market Economy could attract More private sector Money to the Region. Hungary for example is expected to receive $1 billion in direct foreign payments by the end of the year Wapenhaus said. Guatemala and Iraq joined countries in arrears on their debt in fiscal 1991, the report said. Nicaragua was no longer delinquent. The g-7 industrialized nations control More than half the votes in the world Bank and the United states controls 17 percent of the  prices Settle Down Price per Barret Lor Light Sweet crude on the new York mercantile Exchange daily doses Cairo Egypt up a Oil ministers of the six nation Gulf cooperation Council met to coordinate policy saturday. The meeting was in preparation for tuesdays meeting of open Oil ministers the official United Arab emirates news Agency Wam reported. The meeting held in Jidida saudi Arabia prepared open Oil ministers for their biannual talks in Geneva. The talks will cover the world Oil Market prices and Overall production by the 13-member states of the organization of Petroleum exporting countries. Wam said the Oil ministers of saudi Arabia Kuwait United Arab emirates Qatar Bahrain and Oman discussed the a latest developments on the world Market and ways of coordination policies of the member  Qatar a acting Oil minister Abdullah bin Saleh Al Mana said developments regarding the regions Oil exports a could have their Impact on the situation of the Market in the coming Winter months. He did no to elaborate but was apparently referring to Kuwait and Iraq. Kuwait has started to Export limited quantities of crude Oil in recent months following a More than yearlong stoppage a due to iraqis occupation of the emirate. Iraq was allowed by the . Security Council last week to sell Oil Worth $1.6 billion to meet Basic needs of the iraqi people. Oil analysts believe kuwaiti and iraqi Oil exports will have Little effect on world Oil prices but fear the restoration of the two countries open decreed quota could push prices Down from current Levels. Source new York merc. Exchange Salomon admits More cheating new York a Salomon inc. Has revealed two More instances of cheating in government Bond auctions and said it expected to find More wrongdoing. The admissions Widen the scope of violations at the Wall Street firm which is battling Waves of negatives news threatening its investors Confidence. In a one Page statement Salomon said the new violations involved the submission of two unauthorized bids in customer names by the firms government Bond trading desk a the same Type of misconduct the firm previously admitted. Salomon has admitted to violating the 35 percent Cap on the amount one firm can buy at a Treasury auction. The brokerage firm said the new violations did not exceed the government Cap. The company blamed the latest violations on employees already implicated in the scandal. Salomon said the infractions were reported promptly to government authorities once it discovered them. Top executives including former chairman John h. Gutfreund delayed reporting the initial violations several months. Salomon on aug 9 disclosed breaking Federal rules governing auctions in the $2.2 trillion Market for Treasury notes Bills and Bonds at five auctions from december 1990 through May. The government raises Money with the Treasury Market to finance the Public debt. Salomon has Long been one of the most powerful firms on Wall Street. But its status has been shaken since the scandal broke toppling senior executives and scaring customers. On Friday Britain announced it had related Salomon Brothers inc., the firms brokerage subsidiary with Goldman Sachs amp co. As Lead manager for the . Portion of a Large British telecommunications pc Stock Sale in november. Salomon Stock which has plummeted nearly 40 percent since the first revelations fell another 25 cents Friday to close at $22.50 on the new York Stock Exchange. The Manhattan . Attorneys off it Cen the Justice departments antitrust division the securities and Exchange commission the Treasury department and other authorities Are investigating Salomon