European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 18, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday May 18, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 17money matters declining interest rates mean the Cost of rescuing the nations insolvent savings and Loans will be lower than previously estimated a Federal regulator reportedly has told lawmakers. Albert v. Casey the head of the Resolution Trust corp., the Agency overseeing the bailout said recently that lower interest rates make the Cost of the bailout about $130 billion the new York times reported. That is 19 percent less than the Bush administrations top estimate of $160 billion. The general accounting office told congressional aides that Casey a estimate seemed reasonable the times said. The Agency a spending authority expired two months ago. Some lawmakers suggested to the times that Casey a new estimate is an Effort to get Congress to give him an additional $42 billion he says is necessary for the bailout. For several years estimates of the bailouts Cost had risen steadily. The Reagan administration initially said no taxpayer Money would be  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 at $339.25 an ounce Silver at $4.14. May 14 May 15 British Pound.1.8194 1.8200 German mark.1.6135 1.6070 French iranc.5.4125 5.4360 dutch guilder.1.8163 1.8250 belgian iranc.33.24 33.21 italian lira.1.214.30 1,217.75 Swiss franc.1.4815 1.4750 greek drachma.190.41 191.10 turkish lira.6,662.40 6,701.00 saudi arabian riyal.3.7497 3.7497 Spanish peseta.100.60 101.06 portuguese escudo.133.81 134.31 Canadian Dollar.1.2026 1.2085 austrian schilling.11.330 11.3775 norwegian krone.6.281 6.3190 danish Krone .6.217 6.2525 these Are commercial rates and can be related Only to the use of foreign currency by . Forces for official business. The Only official rates apply to the Sale of German Marks and British pounds to . Personnel for personal use and these will be 1.58 Marks to a Dollar and $1.86 for a Pound through monday based on fridays noontime  Battle won by Bush Washington a president Bush has instructed the environmental Protection Agency to Issue regulations to make it quicker and easier for industries to make Plant changes that could increase pollution emissions an administration official said saturday night. The Long anticipated decision was completed at midweek and word was passed quietly to the Epa said the official. Bush a decision represents a Victory for vice president Dan Quayle and several other White House officials who focus on deregulation and competitiveness issues. Epa administrator William k. Reilly had argued for a stronger Rule favored by environmentalists that would make it More difficult for companies to Institute changes that would put their level of pollution beyond what was allowed in their original permits. Activists fear Agency will reap hundreds of farm foreclosures by Jennifer Dixon the associated press Washington hundreds of family Farmers risk losing their land As the agriculture department begins calling in its bad debts for the first time in More than a year. The Farmers Home administration plans to notify 30,000 delinquent farm borrowers in the next few weeks that they Are eligible to have their Loans restructured forgiven or foreclosed whichever costs the government less. Farm activists fear that 10 percent or More of those struggling Farmers could be forced into foreclosure. The Agency says it could be More or less than that but it has no Way of knowing until the restructuring begins. A a it a going to further compound an already devastating economic situation in Rural communities a said activist Kathy Ozer of the National family farm coalition. Farmers Home stopped restructuring delinquent farm Loans in late 1990, when Congress passed reforms to answer criticism that the agriculture department Agency was squeezing Small borrowers while letting big operators off the Hook with million Dollar write offs. Congressional and agriculture department investigators found that Farmers Home under the 1987 agricultural credit act had forgiven multimillion Dollar Loans to agribusiness borrowers who had misled the government about their finances. As a result those operators reaped millions of dollars in excess benefits. Now the Agency has written regulations that limit write Downs and buyouts to $300,000. Farmers will be Given Only one lifetime write Down or buyout. But borrowers whose Loans were forgiven or reduced before the reforms were passed 18 months ago will be eligible for one additional write off or write Down. So far this month the Agency had 37,311 delinquent farm borrowers representing 26.5 percent of its Active direct loan portfolio. And As of March the Agency had $5.6 billion in overdue Loans. Texas leads the country with 3,967 delinquent farm borrowers this month a 45 percent of the states portfolio. But other states also have scores of troubled borrowers including 2,202 in Mississippi 1,576 in Arkansas 1,505 in Missouri 1,817 in Oklahoma 2,108 in Louisiana 1,438 in Iowa 1,576 in Minnesota and 1,668 in North Dakota. A it is vital that the Farmers Home administration offer some accommodation to hard pressed Farmers who arc behind on loan payments a said sen. Lloyd Bent Send Texas. A otherwise Well Sec a lot of them go out of business this  sen. Thomas a. Daschle d-s.d., also fears that Many Farmers will be forced into bankruptcy or foreclosure. A in this group Are Many borrowers whose financial conditions worsened in the year and a half the Bush administration unreasonably and unnecessarily delayed these regulations a Daschle said. Us air s Union pilots of concessionary Deal by the Washington Post Union pilots at us air group inc. Approved a new concessionary contract saturday. The contract would allow the airline millions of dollars in immediate financial Relief in Exchange for the highest wage rates in the Industry by the end of the four year contract. Leaders of the us air air line pilots association meeting in san Francisco voted Early saturday morning to ratify the Deal. The Deal had been tentatively agreed to last week after intensive negotiations which were supervised by Federal mediators. The contract is a major breakthrough for the Arlington  us air. The airline has been seeking to Cut costs by $400 million through contract concessions from its three unions and unilateral pay and Benefit cuts for its non Union employees. Us air has lost $700 million Over the last two years. The pilots agreement provides the investors guide struggling airline with $55 million in Cash savings and work Rule changes that could make the contract Worth far More. In addition the agreement was critical for us air because it has said it would not impose any cuts on its 24,000 nonunion employees until it had an agreement with at least one of its three unions for similar reductions. The other two unions Are the International association of machinists and the associated flight attendants. About half of us air a employees Are represented by the three unions. Pay cuts for us air executives went into effect Jan. 1. Although precise details of the contract agreement have not been made Public the Union agreed to an immediate pay Cut for the first 12 months of the contract. After that the pay would begin to build Back up to the Point where it would eventually reach what pilots earn who Fly wide bodied jets for Delta air lines which boasts the highest pilots pay in the Industry. Under the us air contract however pilots would be permitted to Fly More hours than those at Delta and other airlines which would give us air pilots the highest salaries in the Industry and increase productivity for us air. Alpa insisted Over the company a Strong objection on maintaining its right to Fly any us air planes now or in the future. Sources said the company had wanted to limit Alpaus future representation rights in the event of future mergers or operating agreements with other airlines. Us air executives arc scheduled to meet with the chairman of trans world airlines Carl Icahn to discuss a possible agreement for us air to operate Twa under a management contract similar to the one us air has to run the Trump shuttle sources said saturday. Us air officials would not comment on the report. Interest on Treasury notes trails cd rates by Bill Doyle q to increase our income a Friend who is a retired banker has recommended we replace our certificates of Deposit with . Treasury Bonds and notes. My wife does no to want to do this because these Are  she is afraid we would lose the principal. Are Bonds of this Type Good investments most important Are they Safe a if by a Good Quot you mean How much income a particular investment produces your retired banker Friend is off base. Although rates vary a bit from Bank to Bank Many cd pay higher interest than Treasury securities with similar maturities. As i Pound out this column the Treasury note due to mature in april 1997 is yielding 7.01 percent. You can get a higher rate than that on five year cd without too much shopping around. However your wife a worries Are completely unfounded. Assuming she considers cd Safe As she should she can count . Treasury securities super Safe. Treasury securities Are direct debt obligations of our Federal government which guarantees payment of interest and principal. Federal Deposit insurance corp. Coverage of cd and other deposits while Safe is one step removed from that. Treasury securities have other advantages Over cd. You can safely invest unlimited amounts in treasuries and you  worry about delays in receiving your Money As sometimes has happened with cd when Banks go bust. Treasury securities Are easy to buy. Doyle using the a Treasury direct system you make your purchases by mail. There Are no commission charges or other fees. Your interest As Well As a a discounts on securities bought below face value go by wire to your account at the local Bank you designate. So do the face values of matured securities. Q when buying Treasury securities How does one select the year and interest rate a you can pick the year and often the month in which a Treasury note or Bond will mature to coincide with the time at which you will need the Money. Through its auction process the Treasury department usually Sells two year and five year notes every March june september and december three year notes every february May August and november and seven year notes every january april july and october. Treasury Bonds of various maturities from three to 30 years normally Are sold every february May August and november. You participate in a Treasury department auction by submitting a a a tender a an offer to buy. You can try to select the interest rate by submitting a competitive tender in which you name the Price you Are willing to pay and the interest you Are willing to accept. But that can backfire. If you bid too Low a Price and a correspondingly High interest rate your tender will be rejected. If your bid is very High you will get the securities but you will pay too much. That a Why its smart for an individual investor to submit a non competitive tender which does not name a Price or interest rate. Non competitive tenders for amounts up to $1 million Are automatically accepted at an auctions average Price determined by bids from Large institutional investors. Doyle welcomes written questions but he can provide answers Only through the column c King features Syno Cato inc