European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 6, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday March 6, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 17 Money matters today s tip the number of imported automobiles sold in Japan fell in february because of an ongoing slump in the Market the Japan automobile importers association reported thursday. The number of new foreign car registrations in february came to 12,720 vehicles Down 2,175 from the same month last year the association said. A unless the Overall economic situation improves we can to expect a Bright future for imported cars a an association spokesman said. German automobiles led the import list with 7,451 vehicles Down 17.1 percent from the year ago period and commanded a 59.1 percent share of the imported passenger car Market. American cars took second place with 2,431 vehicles 15.6 percent More than they imported the same month a year ago. Conversion rates London up thursdays 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 $350.50 an ounce Silver at $4.14. March 4 March 5 British Pound.1.72085 1.71685 German mark.1.6647 1.6735 French franc.5.6430 5.6865 dutch guilder.1.8690 1.8813 belgian franc.34.15 jh1. Italian lira.1,246.10 1,254.15 Swiss franc.1.5135 1-5250 greek drachma.191.56 192.65 turkish lira.5,944.60 5,977.70 saudi arabian rlyal.3.7501 3.7501 Spanish peseta.104.26 195-25 portuguese escudo.142.73 143.80 Canadian dollar.1.1905 1.1905 austrian schilling.11.6790 11.7625 norwegian Krone .6.500 6.551 danish Krone .6.4385 6.4745 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rates concerns the Sale of German Marks and British pounds to . Personnel for personal use and these will be 1.63 Marks to a Dollar and $1.75 for a Pound through Friday based on thursdays noontime Price fixings. Late payments on Homes drop Washington apr lower interest rates Are helping recession pinched Consumers keep up to Date on their mortgage payments according to a Trade association. The delinquency rate calculated by the mortgage Bankers association fell to 4.78 percent at the end of december 1991, the lowest in a year the group said wednesday. That was Down from 5.07 percent at the end of the third Quarter and from a five year High of 5.28 percent in june last year. The fourth Quarter rate was still slightly higher than the rate a year earlier 4.71 percent Dow Jones new York up Dow Jones dosing Range of averages wednesday 30 industrials 20 transport 15 unities 65 stocks High 3318.43 1474.03 205.25 1200.96 Low 3256.04 1446.00 202.87 1179.40 close Chengos 3268.56 off 21 69 1455.72 off 168 203.62 Oft 0.81 1184.94 0� 5.49recession, other factors blamed for record welfare participation Washington a driven by the recession a record 4.7 million families Are getting welfare to pay for life a necessities food clothing and a place to live. Federal figures obtained by the associated press show the number of americans participating in the Aid to families with dependent children program has risen steadily since the recession began from 11.6 million in july 1990 to 13.4 million in december 1991, the most recent month for which statistics Are available. The Cost to the Federal government has risen As Well a $13.5 billion in 1991. A an estimated $15.1 billion for 1992. A an estimated $15.5 billion for 1993. Twenty five states responding to a questionnaire by the american Public welfare association said the sour Economy was the main reason for the bigger caseloads. Nine other states put the Economy second or third. In Maryland and Arizona studies found a majority of new Ardc applicants had held jobs a Many within recent months. David Boomer a spokesman for the administration for children and families the Federal Agency that oversees Ardc acknowledged that the recession is having a big Impact on the number of people seeking Aid especially in the Northeast. A a we re hopeful that the trend of consecutive increases will end soon a he said. But Boomer said there Are other factors. Over the last 20 years he said there has been a big increase in the number of single Parent families and several states have become More aggressive in helping the needy apply for Federal assistance. Ardc provides direct Aid to poor parents to help them afford food clothing and a place to live. The program is run by the states which set eligibility requirements including strict limits on income and assets. Another requirement is that the family have children who Are being denied the financial support of a Parent. Nearly 86 percent of Ardc recipients also receive food Stamps another government program that is experiencing record Levels of enrolment. The government says the number of families participating in Ardc averaged 3.8 million a or 10.9 million people a monthly in 1989, rising to 4.4 million families a 12.6 million individuals a in september 1991. Those numbers stood at 4.7 million families and 13.4 million people in december of last year. At the end of september last year the average monthly caseload nationwide was nearly 4.4 million families a or about 12.6 million recipients. In Nevada officials say the states big population boost in the 1980s is As much responsible for its increased Ardc Load As the recession. Last year the Nevada legislature voted to increase benefits but gov. Bob Miller a Democrat reduced that to keep the states budget balanced said Mike Campbell a spokesman for the governor. The american Public welfare association found that from july 1989 to november 1991, the Ardc caseload in four states grew by More than 50 percent. Those states were led by new Hampshire where a caseload of 10,500 represented a 98.1 percent increase. Next was Arizona with a caseload of 60,700 for a 64.1 percent increase Florida 198.200 for 63 percent and Nevada 11.200 for 51.4 percent. Both republicans and democrats say Ardc discourages people from trying to make it on their own. Rep. Tony Hall a Ohio chairman of the House select committee on hunger said a we must look Long and hard fit any program that effectively discourages ambition and makes self sufficiency an unattainable  in his state of the Union address in january president Bush said a welfare was never meant to be a lifestyle. It was never supposed to be passed from generation to generation like a  the administration proposed a 1 percent increase in spending for Ardc programs for 1993, not including $1 billion to Elp people train for jobs and find work. The american Public welfare association represents state welfare agencies which provide about half of its budget. The rest comes from private sources including foundations and individuals. F cat food trashed for wastefulness Trenton . Up a Ralston Purina a Happy cat cat food headed a list of waste maker awards announced by a new Jersey congressman on behalf of environmental groups. Rep. Frank Pallone d-., presented a total of eight awards although none of the winners showed up to receive them. A these awards were conceived with two Basic goals in mind a Pallone said. A first we want to draw attention to wastefully packaged products and More soundly packaged alternatives so that Consumers can make More informed purchasing choices. A second we Hope to be Able to shame at least some of these manufacturers into withdrawing or repackaging their products to be More environmentally  the winners were Ralston Purina co of st. Louis Geo. A. Hormel amp co., Austin Minn. Do brands inc., Indianapolis general foods Usa White Plains . Two awards Val pro inc., Corydon ind. Little Brook foods Bellevue Wash. And general Mills Minneapolis. Pallone said that Happy cat scored both for the volume and composition of its packaging which includes a Bulky foil lined Container and plastic flip top lid. He called it a a wasteful blend of materials that makes it functionally impossible to  the awards also took aim at products that repackage food in an apparently More convenient form at a substantially higher Price. Some examples included Little Brook foods kids lunch to go which consists of plastic wrapped individual Servings of crackers cookies cheese and raisins and a juice Box and general Mills Bisquick shake in pour Pancake mix which costs almost three times As much per ounce As a 2-Pound Box of dry mix. The other winners were Hormel a Dinty Moore microwave beef Stew Downs spiff its moist cleaning towels general foods Maxwell House one cup packets and Crystal Light lemonade flavor mix and Val pro a Little Brown bag disposables sugar packets. The a a winning package. A amps qua 8chuattter horticultural exports hit record for 1991 Washington a . Horticultural exports hit a record $5.46 billion in 1991, up 9 percent from 1990 and 54 percent from 1987. The agriculture department said this week that every category except Frozen vegetables increased in value Over 1990. In Quantity hops and fresh Citrus declined along with Frozen vegetables. Fresh non Citrus fruits were the largest category of exports at $968 million followed by tree nuts $866 million fresh vegetables $833 million fresh Citrus $593 million and canned vegetables $421 million. Canned vegetables showed the largest Export growth in value terms since 1987, at 225 percent followed by wine 139 percent dehydrated vegetables 86 percent and Nursery products 80 percent. The report said exports of . Apples for the Fust half of the marketing year 1991-92 totalled 263,967 tons valued at $165 million. The Quantity was 26 percent above the previous year. A gains have been made where markets were opened restrictions were lifted or tariffs were reduced within the past five years a the report said. . Wine exports topped $146.1 Mil lion in 1991, 16 percent higher than 1990 exports. The top three markets were Canada $35 million the United kingdom $28 million and Japan $25 million. The Netherlands a presents an excellent Market Opportunity for the . Wine Industry a the report said noting that Holland depends entirely on imports to satisfy wine demand. The report noted that Egypt rescinded its ban on imported nuts Jan. 29. A Egypt imposed the ban in 1985 to conserve foreign Exchange a it said. A the lifting of the ban creates an excellent Export Opportunity for the . Tree nut