European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 08, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16 the stars and stripes Money matters tuesday february 8,1994 today s rates following Are fixed rates a which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell for eign currencies to . Personnel for personal use German Mark. 1.72 British Pound 1.52 dutch Guilder. 1.91 greek drachma. 243.8618 note the rates above apply within the Host country. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar following Are Interbank rate that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign Curren cies italian lira 1,697.65 turkish lira 17,560.20 Spanish peseta. 142.13 portuguese escudo 176.60 austrian Schilling 12.3725 saudi rival 3.7498 Bahrain Dinar 0.37675 kuwaiti Dinar .0.29745 norwegian Krone ,. 7.5525 danish Krone 6.8290 British Pound 1.4825 German Mark 1.7630 Swiss franc 1.4730 French franc. 5.9703 dutch Guilder. 1.9726 belgian franc. 36.35 Canadian Dollar. 1.3416 nor figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quota $384.25 an ounce Silver quote $5.34 an ounce cigarette maker stubs out factory at Brussels site Brussels Belgium a Phili Morris says it will close its cigarette fac tory in Brussels because europeans Are smoking less. Philip Morris Belgium a said 275 workers would lose their jobs but the company is working out options for Early retirements and other benefits. Philip Morris other Brussels factory which makes pipe and rolling tobacco will remain open the company said. The tobacco company said consumption of cigarettes in the 12-nation euro Pean Union dropped 7 percent between1990 and 1993. A further decline is. Expected in 1994, mainly because of tax in creases and other government policies targeting the tobacco sector. In Belgium taxes account for 75 percent of the retail Price of a pack of cigarettes Philip mor Ris said. The factory in the Idelles neighbor Hood of Brussels is Philip Morris Small est Plant in the european Union which was formerly called the european Community. The Plant is in a residential area so it cannot be expanded. The factory Only makes and packs cigarettes which requires costly transport of tobacco processed at other plants. Philip Morris said it has invested More than $27.8 million in the Idelles factory Over the last decade. Cigarette distribution won t be affected by the Idelles clo sure the company said. Dollar exchanges bad times for Good on Europe markets by Mark Kinkade staff writer the . Dollar Cori tinted its steady climb against foreign currencies monday when it hit a 2vi-year High of 1.72 Ger Man Marks to the Dollar at military Exchange facilities. The Bank to Bank Exchange rate was fixed at slightly More than 1.74 Marks. Merchant National Bank charges a 2.5 percent Exchange rate fee. Although the Dollar has shown steady improvement in the past month a sur prise interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve Board on Friday spurred a nearly 2-pfennig surge against the German Mark. However the value of traditional . Stocks took a Tumble. The Exchange rate in Community Banks stood at 1.70 Marks to the Dollar when the fed made its move Friday. Short term interest rates went up about one Quarter of a percent to 3.25 percent. The interest rate increase should keep the Dollar Strong possibly driving it above 1.80 Marks said Jochen Schober chief economist for the he Sische Landes Bank in Frankfurt Germany.  the Dollar is Strong and . Economy will stay Strong Schober said. It will continue especially if the Bundesbank Lowers its  he said the Central German Bank is considering lowering interest rates to narrow the spread Between . And German rates. If that happens the Dollar will continue to grow stronger he said. However he does t expect a move by the Bundesbank for a few months. The sudden jump in the Exchange rate May cause investors to pause slowing the growth of the Dollar but the currency should continue going up Schober said. It was quite a jump in the last few Days Schober said adding that he thinks it will take some time for the mar Ket to realize what happened. Nevertheless i think the Dollar will go on to a stronger  a merchants Bank official in Frankfurt predicted a steady climb for the Dollar through june to a Peak of about 1.80marks. Then the Dollar will slide to 1.75 Marks at the end of the year said Brun Seidler Treasury chief for merchants. The perception is that the Bundesbank will lower its interest rates and the fed will go even higher Seidler said. If that happens it Narrows the Gap Between the . And German interest rates. If the German Economy improves the value of the Mark increases and the value of the Dollar decreases. Those fac tors combined should slow  the Dollar also showed Strong gains against other currencies. In London for example the military Exchange rate was set at $1.52 to the Pound Down from $1.54 to the Pound. The italian lira also fell against the rejuvenated Greenback. The lira opened the week trading at 1,689.50 to the Dollar however americans buying lire in Mili tary banking facilities today should get 1,691.00 for $1. Monday s Mark rate was the highest for the Dollar at military banking facilities since july 1991, when it peaked at 1.79. The Dollar bottomed at a 50-year Low of 1.35 Marks in september 1992. In the Spring of 1985, the Dollar briefly reached 3.45 Marks at Community Banks. Big wheel a car enthusiast takes a photo of the Miami Thunder an Amer go parting Salon in Paris on sunday the show had a special lean monster truck constructed on the basis of the Chevrolet Usa theme to commemorate the so Elf anniversary in june of pickup truck during the 25th International Auto motorcycle the a Day invasion ots orman anniversary in june 01 teamsters at  defy court order walk out Washington a despite a court order ban Ning a strike teamsters walked off their jobs at the United parcel service on monday after the company raised the weight limit on packages to 150 pounds. Teamster spokesman Matt Witt said that the strike began at 8 . And that  workers Are out All across the  Witt said the walkout was expected to spread to  facilities nationwide when they we rescheduled to open at 8 . Local time. Picket lines were up at several locations in Atlanta where the company has its Headquarters and in Augusta a. But workers in Louisville ky., ignored the strike Call. We re disappointed that some Union employees have chosen to respond to the recommendation of the teamsters leadership and defy a Federal court order prohibiting the Union from taking a Job action said Gina Ellrich a spokeswoman at  Headquarters in Atlanta Bob Kenney another  spokesman in Atlanta said we expect our employees to report to work and to obey the court  Witt said the walkout will end once the company agrees to work out a Safe Way to handle these 150 Pound  Union president Ronald Carey has said that Raisin the limit from the current 70 pounds will cause injuries