European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 25, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday february 25, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 19money matter today s tip hoping to ease recession worries and stimulate business a Columbus Ohio Bank is offering to pay car Loans for customers who get Laid off. Huntington National Bank said it will pay up to $500 a month for six months for borrowers who finance the Purchase or lease of new or used cars and Light trucks by april 20. Borrowers must submit an affidavit from their employers stating that they lost their jobs because of economic reasons. They also must qualify for unemployment benefits. Nick Stanutz Huntington a senior vice president for consumer credit administration and dealer sales said the Bank Hopes to make Money on an increased volume of Loans. The Bank has branches in Ohio Indiana and  rates London up mondays rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $349.75 an ounce Silver at $4.12. Feb. 21 feb. 24 British pound.1.74530 1.74835 German mark.1.6460 1.6510 French franc.5.6190 5.6350 dutch guilder.1.8622 1.8545 belgian franc.33.94 33.95 italian lira.1,240.30 1,243.65 Swiss franc.1.4950 1.4940 greek drachma.189.06 191.45 turkish lira.5,787.00 5,838.30 saudi arabian riyal.3.7501 3.7501 Spanish peseta.103.30 104.15 portuguese escudo.141.52 142.90 Canadian dollar.1.1836 1.1872 austrian schilling.11.5890 11.6975 norwegian krone.6.4530 6.5090 danish krone.6.3820 6.4435 these Are commercial rates and can be 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 be 1.62 through tuesday based on mondays noontime Price fixing. Gas prices Rise Over half cent los Angeles up Gas prices reversed a three month decline increasing More than a half Penny a gallon the past two weeks an Oil Industry analyst said sunday. A nationwide Survey of pump prices conducted feb. 21 found the average composite Price of a gallon of gasoline was 117.64 cents or up 0.64 cents Over the previous Survey conducted feb. 7. The composite Price is made up of All grades of Gas at the self and full service pump and includes All state and local taxes. It was the first Rise in Gas prices since november said Trilby Lund Berg author of the Lundberg Survey. But she said it is too Early to determine if the uptick will continue. A we can to say its an upward trend a Lundberg said. She noted that prices Rose and then fell in the Wake of a meeting of open ministers and that the Economy remains mired in recession. Lundbergh a Survey of More than 13,000 service stations nationwide found slight decreases in All grades of gasoline at the self service pumps while full service prices held steady. Pm to shut trim 12 plants following $4.5 billion loss Detroit apr general motors corp. Said monday that it lost a record $4.5 billion in 1991 and announced Plant closings including an Assembly factory near Ypsilanti. A Texas Plant was spared. The announcement came As the automaker posted a fourth Quarter loss of $2.5 billion. Among the other Sites being closed Are a factory in North Tarrytown n.y., and a v-8 engine Plant in Flint Mich. In All pm announced closings and cutbacks monday affecting 12 plants and thousands of workers. Texas officials had lobbied heavily to save the Plant in Arlington near Dallas and Michigan officials had tried to do the same for the Willow run Plant near Ypsilanti West of Detroit. Both plants make Large rear wheel drive cars which Are Selling poorly. The Ypsilanti Plant is to be closed in the summer of 1993 and has 4,014 employees. The North Tarrytown Plant to be closed in the summer of 1995, has 3,456 workers. The Flint Plant has 4,036. A a we re All just in a state of Shock right now a said Anthony Caparis president of the Ypsilanti chamber of Commerce. A1 Vickery a worker at Arlington said More than 2,000 workers inside the Plant for a televised address by pm chairman Robert Stempel let out a cheer when he said Arlington would remain open. A you could t ask for anything better a Vickery said. A a it a a great  the Plant is to gain 1,000 employees in the reorganization workers said. Under their contract Laid off Law members at pm Are guaranteed 95 percent of their take Home pay through mid september 1993, when the contract expires. The losses posted in Gmys earning report monday included a one time $1.8 billion charge in the fourth Quarter to cover the costs of closing some of the factories run by the worlds largest automaker. Combined with net losses last year of $2.3 billion at Ford motor co. And $795 million at Chrysler corp., the big three lost $7.6 billion in 1991. That easily topples 1980 As the worst on record when pm Ford and Chrysler lost $4.5 billion. In december Stempel said 21 plants would be Cut without specifying which. Mondays announcement brings to 14 the number of plants he has specified so far. The following plants face closing or cutbacks a a Moraine Ohio engine Plant with 549 employees will close by the summer of 1995. A production will be consolidated at a facility in Toluca Mexico. A Grey Iron foundry head castings of Saginaw Mich., with 600 employees is closing by the summer of 1994. A production will be consolidated at a casting Plant in Defiance Ohio. A a casting Plant at St. Catharines Ontario with 2,150 employees will cease operations by the Spring of 1995. A another St. Catharines Plant will cease production of the 3.1-liter v-6 engine affecting 165 workers this fall. Production of other v-6 and v-8 engines will continue at St. Catharines. A the 435 employees at Detroit plants 55 and 57 will be relocated to other nearby plants. A Delco Chassis Plant 20 at Dayton Ohio will cease operations by the end of the year. This Plant with 249 employees produces machine control systems. A Delco Rumy Plant 10 at Anderson ind., will discontinue operations by the end of the first Quarter this year. The Plant with 375 workers makes horns. A die construction at Lordstown Ohio with 270 employees will cease operations this year. States that boosted taxes last year in better financial shape report says by Mitchell Landsberg the associated press the fiscal crisis eased somewhat for state governments in the last three months of 1991, but states balanced their budgets on the backs of taxpayers and not on a healthy Economy a research Center reported. State tax Revenue Overall Rose 6.3 percent Between the final Quarter of 1990 and the final Quarter of 1991, according to a report issued monday by the Center for the study of the states a research Institute at the state University of new York in Albany. It was the biggest increase since the recession began in mid-1990. However the Center calculated that 80 percent of the increase was due to tax increases enacted in 1990 and 1991. Without those increases the rate of growth would have been Only 1.2 percent. A states Are still mired in serious economic problems and they be got their fingers crossed that the Economy will rebound and bail them out of it a said Ste Pennsylvania for example took its Medicine last year and therefore is in much better shape  Center for the study of the states Ven d. Gold the centers director. He added that the states that raised taxes significantly last year or the year before Are in much better shape than those that held off. A Pennsylvania for example took its Medicine last year and therefore is in much better shape now a Gold said. A but other states that avoided tax increases a like Tennessee a Are probably going to increase taxes this year because they had an extremely unbalanced  Tennessee a revenues actually Rose by 1.2 percent in the last Quarter the Center snick but the state remained in dire fiscal Straits with its Reserve fund Duple cd school buses idled and its welfare system on the verge of bankruptcy. The Tennessee legislature Defeated a proposal for an income tax earlier this year and is expected to consider a proposal this week for a half cent sales tax increase. Pennsylvania led the nation with a 34 percent increase in revenues in the final Quarter of 1990, compared with the same period the year before. Connecticut which enacted a new personal income tax in october had the second biggest jump a 28 percent. New Hampshire whose dismal Economy was the talk of last weeks presidential primary election had the biggest decrease in revenues 32 percent. The Center for the study of the states gets its information from state officials around the United states. Consumers stubbornly resist spending by John Cunniff a business analyst new York a like a mule the american consumer is resisting All pleas promises and threats to get a move on. A go shopping spend Money no not now. Maybe later. Well let you  this stubbornness has delayed the Onset of recovery and not Only destroyed the forecasts of some economists but thrown their thinking into confusion. They had expected consumer resistance not obstinacy. For Consumers to stand ground that Way takes Mullish determination since those urging them to show some life Are the president of the United states the head of the Federal Reserve Board and the worlds biggest companies. The president changed the tax withholding rate in order to put an extra Dollar or so a Day into paychecks a Money people can use to help pay for clothing College or to get a new  they will probably save it instead. The Federal Reserve repeatedly has lowered interest rates in an Effort to jump Start the Economy. But those lower rates Haven to so far led to much new economic activity. The big automakers have sharpened their advertising offered below Market financing rates and Cut prices in an Effort to induce people into junking their old a Lopies. But car sales have been dragging. What americans have been doing quietly but actively is daring the big debts they ran up in the 1980s. It is an abrupt reversal of past practices. It represents a huge change of attitude and lifestyle. It represents also a break with leadership. In the �?T70s and �?T80s those who allegedly knew Best a Uncle Sam for instance and 4he Heads of Banks and big companies a peddled debt As the wave of the future. The message get with it having succumbed to temptation americans now seem As eager to resist it. To a get with it today Means to Cut your debts and avoid if possible the disastrous situation in which Uncle Sam and Many companies find themselves