European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 25, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday february 25, 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 19money matters 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 s349.00 an ounce Silver at $4.10. Few it. 21 feb. 24 British Pound. 1.7453 1.7355 German mark.1.6460 1.64620 French franc.5.6190 5.6509 outchgurder.1.6622 1.8705 belgian franc.33.94 34.18 italian lira.1,240.30 1,248.50 Swiss franc.1.4950 1.5055 greek drachma.169.86 191.45 turkish hra.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 canarian 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 British pounds to . Personnel for personal use. Through tuesday this will be $1.79 for a Pound based on a Price fixing monday afternoon at military banking  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. Lethargic economic upturn forecast by experts for 1992 Washington a sluggish economic growth this year will Cap the worst three year period entered on a recession since the great depression a Survey of the nations top economic forecasters suggested monday. The median response to the poll by the National association of business economists projects economic growth at just 2.3 percent Over the four quarters of 1992. That would be less than half the average growth of 6 percent during the first year of recovery from other recessions since world War ii. A but consider also that the year 1990 witnessed the slowest growth since world War ii in any year immediately preceding a recession a the association said. The Economy expanded just 1.0 percent in 1990 and actually shrank 0.7 percent last year. A taken As a whole then the period from the end of 1989 through the end of 1992 will be the worst three year interval entered on a recession since the great depression a it added. Still 32 of the 49 economists in the Survey a agree that the recession is behind us and that economic growth will turn positive in the first Quarter of 1992,�?� the group said. A Only 8 percent of those surveyed expect a a double dip recession a a Down from 10 percent in the november poll the association said. But the Survey also showed the forecasters had grown More pessimistic Over the past three months about the strength of the anticipated recovery the association said. It noted the 2.3 percent growth projection is Down from 3.0 percent in an earlier Survey last november. And while the consensus of the Nabe forecasters suggested a 0.5 percent growth during the current Quarter that is Down from 2.5 percent projected by the panel last August. A a panellists do seem increasingly concerned about the possibility of what could Only be called a growth recession a the association said. It noted the most cited reason for the a lethargic recovery was the High level of Consumers  consumer spending two thirds of the nations economic activity is expected to increase Only 1.4 percent in 1992. But despite aggressively pushing Down interest rates during the last 18 months the Federal reserves a too restrictive monetary policy that keeps rates from falling even farther was cited As another major reason for the sub Par recovery. The Bush administration is forecasting growth of 2.2 percent from the fourth Quarter of 1991 to the same period of this year. The Federal Reserve is projecting the Economy will expand Between 1.75 percent and 2.5 percent. The Nabe consensus forecast growth of 3.0 percent in 1993, the same As what the administration forecasts. The Survey was conducted in late january and Early february. The subdued growth in the Economy is expected to keep prices Down. Inflation As measured by the consumer Price Index was projected to Rise 3.2 percent this year Down from 3.5 percent in the november Survey and 3.5 percent in 1993. The Chi Rose 3.1 percent in 1991. But a the sluggish recovery spells Only grudging Relief from unemployment a the association said. The panellists forecast the jobless rate which was 6.7 percent in 1991, to Rise to 6.9 percent this year before falling to 6.5 percent in 1993. The Nabe poll projected the Federal budget deficit to jump to $383 billion in fiscal 1992, up from the record $268.7 billion in 1991. The Bush administration is forecasting a $399.4 billion Gap. But the other deficit merchandise Trade was forecast to fall from $66.2 billion last year to $60 billion in 1992. The Trade Gap was $101.7 billion in 1990. 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 now a 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 said. But the state remained in dire fiscal Straits with its Reserve fund depleted 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 Ana 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 paring the big debts they ran up in the 1980s. It is an abrupt reversal of past practices. It represents a huge change or 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 the 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