European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 18, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters monday april 18,1994 today a rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities will sell foreign currencies to . Personnel for personal use British Pound.1.51 dutch Guilder 1.86 German Mark a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 1.67 greek drachma. 244.6402 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 rates that fluctuate and should be regarded As the approximate value of the . Dollar to foreign currencies austrian Schilling .12.0265 Bahrain Dinar .0.37675 belgian franc. 35.24 British Pound. 1.4746 Canadian Dollar 1.3782 danish Krone a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a Isis 6.705 dutch Guilder. 1.919 French franc. 5.855 German Mark 1.7102 italian lira 1,634.95 Kuwait Dinar 0.2975 norwegian Krone. 7.419 portuguese escudo .174.90 saudi rial. 3.7495 Spanish peseta .139.38 Swiss franc 1.4502 turkish lira. 35,000.00 note figures Ere expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $376.20 an ounce Silver quote $5.29 an ounce sources merchants National Bank $ Trust Cote associated press United press International ., Canada reach impasse in farm dispute Washington apr Ade Asp Ada have reached a dead end Agricula at ending a farm Trade talks aimed Ute with can daily fixing of Dollar s rate is an up and it Down process Ture Secretary Mike Espy declared increasing the likelihood of . Quotas on Canadian wheat. A a they be moved a bit we be moved a bit but in the final movements we were just so far apart that we agreed to disagree a Espy said in a broadcast from Marrakesh Morocco. He reiterated that the deadline for an agreement will be Friday but gave no indication that the two sides might make any Progress by then. If the deadline passes without an Accord the United states will begin the three month process of imposing quotas on Canadian wheat under article 28 of the general agreement on tariffs and Trade. Quot we will probably be moving to take advantage under the rules of International Trade particularly those of the Gatt to move into some unilateral decisions that must be made to protect our wheat producers a Espy said. The United states wants Canada to Cap its Low Cost shipments of durum and other wheat to the United states at a figure near historical Levels. The United states asserts that Canada has used unfair pricing and rail subsidies to undercut . Prices. Canada shipped an average of 1 million metric tons of wheat to the United states each year from 1990 to 1992, the agriculture department said. But in 1993-1994, the shipments increased to 2.5 million metric tons because of Short harvests and Quality problems caused by bad weather. The United states has been threatening to set a level of imports that qualify for Low tariffs and impose restrictively High tariffs on imports above that level. Under the 1989 free Trade agreement with Canada the United states has been lowering tariffs every year. Tariffs were to end in 1999. Bidav Walczak staff writer Frankfurt Germany whether your Dollar is Worth More today than yesterday in Germany rarely takes longer than 15 minutes to determine. The decision to fix a . Dollar value to the German Mark is made at the Frankfurt currency Exchange where trading is Quick and traders Are few. Representatives from German commercial Banks one member of the German Central Bank and a half dozen currency Exchange staff members make up the cast that produces the dollars daily value against the German Mark. The same players also decide How Many japanese yen Canadian dollars and 14 european currencies can be bought with one Mark in Germany. But its the dollars value that catches the attention of most americans and the . Currency always Heads the list of currency values decided by the gathering inside Frankfurt a conference room size currency Exchange. The room is part of the Germany Stock Market building. Smaller German currency exchanges in Berlin Disseldorf Hamburg and Munich also play a role in every daily currency rate set at Frankfurt. Currency fixing begins at 1 . With the arrival of one or two currency Exchange officials called Kurs makers. Often they already have received currency sales and Purchase orders from Banks before the session starts. The . Dollar is the first currency fixed at every Frankfurt trading session which lasts about an hour. Dollar orders can be Given a at limit or a at  for example an order to buy . Dollars at a limit of 1.7390 Marks Means the buyer will not pay More than 1.7390 Marks for one Dollar. A at bests Means traders will accept the Price of the Dollar after the Days trading is established a daily rate. At the other Germany exchanges sales orders Are offset against each other and orders that cannot be accommodated Are called in to the Frankfurt Exchange. Dealers inside the Frankfurt Exchange then place additional Dollar orders. The. A amps file banking officials conduct last minute trading before the Dollar rate is fixed at the Frankart currency Exchange. German Central Bank called the Bundesbank sometimes submits a bid. The Kurs Makler then Calls out a spread of estimated rates Between which the Days rate will be fixed based on data from world currency exchanges and existing bids. For example if the spread is Between 1.7390 and 1.7400 Marks the announced estimate is the �?o90 figure a because the first two numbers after the Decimal Point Are considered already fixed since the at limit rate is 1.7390. The Bankers can then make additional bids. A a a a a a. A a a a a a. A a a a. A a a a the Kurs Makler totals All the fixed sales bids Between 1.7390 and 1.7400 to find a figure that accommodates most of them. Bids too High or too Low Are eliminated and a preliminary rate is announced. If any one Bank agrees to take All unsettled Dollar bids at the preliminary fix the Dollar Mark rate is set and trading ends. If no Bank volunteers to accept All the outstanding orders the Kurs Makler sets another figure until a Bank accepts the Days fix. The final rate is referred to As the a Middle rate because it is about Midway Between All fixed bids for any currency that Day. Up to 50 German Banks can participate at the Frankfurt currency Exchange session but its a rare Day that a majority attends. According to detlef Stork a currency Exchange specialist at the Exchange 20 bidders at any currency session is considered above Normal. Only German chartered Banks can Send representatives to the Frankfurt Exchange. Each can bid on any of the 17 currencies traded which Are quoted in an exact order beginning with the . Dol car.  a a  a. A. A a a a a a a a. A each Bank representative sits at a designated table and has a phone that connects Bankers to their Home offices. Although millions of dollars Are transacted at the Exchange every Day the majority of currency deals occur off the floor Stork said. Large Banks serve As their own clearinghouses squaring most currency deals before the trading session opens. A a a. A a a a a a. A Bundesbank intervention is far More significant on the free Market Stork said. For example a the Central Bank May buy 100 million French francs at the Exchange but May have bought More than 1 billion on the free Market a he said. One table near the front is reserved for the Bundesbank whose representative has Access to a Crimson coloured phone the Only phone of that color inside the carpeted room. The daily rate is considered official and the basis for settlement of All pay ment in foreign Exchange with no Banks. In addition the rate protects Consumers allowing them to know about How much their currency is Worth. Official currency trading is always made in a Book Money a Ana Cash never changes hands. Cash transactions do not Mirror exact daily Exchange rates because commercial Banks charge a fee to handle actual currency and coins. The fee explains Why Dollar holding customers for example often receive fewer Marks than they would if they could Exchange them at the official rate. Military rate 2.5% lower than fixed rate Bidav Walczak staff writer Mannheim Germany a a Cynthia Phillips is like Many automated Teller machine users. She puts her coded plastic card in the machine enters How Many German Marks she wants to buy and 50-Mark notes appear. If she bought 100 Marks last monday when the Exchange rate was 1.67 Marks to the Dollar she paid $59.88 and that amount was debited to her Dollar a. Count. Did she and other . Military Community members in Germany get the Best currency Exchange Deal that Day on military installations there was no other Deal. Phillips the assistant manager at Mannheim a Franklin guest House is a merchants National Bank amp Trust co. Customer. Under terms of its defense department contract the Bank buys All Marks for the . Military in Germany and financial outlets such As credit unions that serve american military communities. So if Phillips bought 100 Marks last monday at either Andrews Federal credit Union or at a military finance office she would have paid $59.88. The rate at which merchants buys its Marks is based on the a Middle rate announced at the Frankfurt currency Exchange every weekday except German holidays. The Middle rate is usually set about 1 10 . And remains in effect until the end of the next trading session thus leaving every Friday rate in effect until the financial institutions close monday afternoon. The new Exchange rate then goes into effect at the close of business on that Day. On april 8, the Friday before Phillips made her trip to the automatic Teller machine the Frankfurt Middle rate was 1.7132. Merchants commission of 2.5 percent lowered the figure to 1.67037, and Bank officials rounded that number Down to 1.67 for its customers. The commission is established under terms of the merchants contract with the defense department and never varies. Merchants always buys Marks at the current Days Middle rate. Its multimillion Mark purchases Are made at about 11 . Through the German Central Bank called the Bundesbank. The system does allow military customers some leeway in buying German cur Rency. For example if the Dollar rises in trading from the previous Day customers can wait until the new rate goes into effect and get More Marks for their Dollar. But it can also work against military customers such As occurred during the German easter weekend which Yvan Weill chief of currency transactions for merchants described As a an unfortunate  the dollars midday fix in Frankfurt on thursday March 30, was 1.6720 and because of the Long easter weekend trading did not resume in Frankfurt until tuesday april 5. For five Days merchants customers bought Marks at 1.63. In Tokyo on easter monday the Dollar moved up on International currency markets but military customers in Germany could not Benefit from the Rise in the dollars value until the Frankfurt Exchange resumed trading tuesday. On wednesday april 6, military banking customers bought Marks at 1.65, based on tuesdays Middle rate of 1.69. A in the Long run a Weill said Dollar Mark conversions a a even out. It is unfortunate when an individual has to Exchange today and cannot wait until