European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 26, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters tuesday april 26,1994 i 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 .1.53 dutch Guilder. 1.83 German Mark 1.64 greek drachma a a a a a a a a a 241.5826 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 11.8225 Bahrain Dinar 0.37675 belgian franc 34.62 British Pound.1.4920 Canadian Dollar 1.3818 danish Krone. 6.5975 dutch Guilder .1.8863 5.7615 French franc German Mark .1.6790 italian lira. 1,620.61 Kuwait Dinar .0.2970 norwegian Krone .7.3005 portuguese escudo a a a a a a a a a a a a a 172.30 saudi rial. 3.7498 Spanish peseta .137.00 Swiss franc .1.4325 turkish lira. 31,500.00 note figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other currencies to the Dollar Gold quote $372.75 an once Silver quote $5.13 an ounce sources merchants National Bank amp Trust co., the associated press United press International global Economy looking up say group of seven official German firm exits air show Berlin apr to the governments dismay one of the worlds largest air shows could be in danger of going Down in flames thanks to Deutsche aerospace a withdrawal from next months Berlin exhibition. A i am very understanding when someone wants to conserve Energy and save Money. But to avoid this important Trade fair is to Gamble away the future of the German aviation Industry a economics minister Gunter Rexroat was quoted As saying by the Bild am sonntag newspaper. Rexroat is worried that the decision by Deutsche aerospace a troubled division of the giant Daimler Benz a.g., to pull out of the May 28-june 5 International aviation exhibition at Schonefeld Airport could spell the beginning of the end of the biennial event. Bild am sonntag said Deutsche aerospace subsidiaries mob dornier and Stu As Well As Airbus industries had also decided to pull out of the air show an important marketplace where wares from the East and West Are put on display. Show organizers say they Are competing with the Farnborough England Snow for third place behind Paris and Singapore among leading air shows. Only about half As Many exhibitors As the 500 present in 1992 Are expected to attend next months show according to German news reports. Oil Cost boosts Gas Price los Angeles apr an increase in the Price of crude Oil pushed the Price of gasoline up 1.43 cents at the nations pumps in the past two weeks the Lund org Survey said. A $1.50-a-barrel Rise in the Price of crude Oil since late March was the determining Factor in the Gas Rise analyst Trilby Lundberg said sunday. The Overall retail average including All grades and self and full service was 112.96 cents a gallon Friday she said. By Martin Crutsinger the associated press Washington finance officials from the seven richest Industrial countries expressed optimism sunday that the world Economy can achieve faster growth this year despite a recent Rise in Lon term interest rates. In a chairman a statement summarizing the discussions Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen said his colleagues believed that a variety of signs Point to stronger growth with inflation remaining Low. A collectively we Are More encouraged than we have been a Bentsen said. A and i must say i was pleased to hear the optimism around the  Bentsen said the group of seven nations a the United states Japan Germany France Britain Canada and Italy a pledged to continue pursuing policies put in place last year but did not indicate that any nation was willing to come Forward with any new commitments. The United states had been pushing Japan and Germany to do More to stimulate their Domestic economies Given the unexpectedly deep recessions in both nations. However japanese and German officials have so far resisted doing More arguing instead that they have done enough and that doing More would risk re igniting inflationary pressures. The g-7 finance ministers and Central Bank presidents did have Praise for the economic Reform efforts put Forward by Russia. Those commitments to restrain Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen left and German finance minister Theo Wai gel leave after talks sunday in Washington. The government budget deficit and Cut inflation led to a new $1.5 billion loan from the International monetary fund last week. Russian Deputy prime minister Alexander Shakhin and other russian economic policy makers briefed the g-7 on sunday about the status of russians Reform program. Bentsen said the Western nations Wel corned russians commitments to reduce the budget deficit to no More than 7.5 percent of the total Economy this year and to bring inflation Down to a monthly rate of 7 percent by years end. Based on those commitments Bentsen said the g-7 was urging the world Bank to accelerate new Loans for Russia. He said the g-7 nations also stood ready to begin negotiations aimed at providing Russia with further debt Relief in the form of a stretched out payment schedule. A a. A a a a a a a a he said the group had a made it Clear to the russians that if they Are to attract private capital they must put in place a stable and attractive investment environment that respects private  on global growth Bentsen said a the Bottom line was we agreed the fundamentals Are Good and we reiterated that inflation remains under  that was a message clearly aimed at nervous financial markets which have pushed Long term interest rates up sharply Over the past two months for fear that growth especially in the United states has accelerated to such an extent that inflation will Start rising. The failure to come up with any new strategies to Spur growth was not unexpected. Officials had predicted Little new would come out of the talks in part because Japan and Germany have been resisting Calls from the Clinton administration to do More to stimulate their own economies. The discussions among the g-7 countries were held in Advance of mondays Start of the annual Spring meetings of the 178-nation International monetary fund and its sister organization the world Bank. Quarterly profit boosts ism rebound from record bad year surprises financial experts Boyeva Ramstad the associated press Toronto in my a first Quarter performance gave its top executives some Good news to bring to shareholders at the company a annual meeting monday the computer company a worst year Ever came in 1993 a both financially and emotionally. But International business machines corp. Surprised financial analysts last week with a first Quarter profit and a jump in Revenue that were greater than expected. The reshaping of. Ism accelerated last year when it hired its first chairman and chief executive from another company Louis v. Gerstner jr., former head of Rwjr Nabisco inc. Gerstner had been on the Job just three weeks at the time of last years annual meeting. He told shareholders then that his first priorities were to Complete major staff reductions define what businesses ism would pursue and improve customer relations. Last july he announced an $8 billion charge to pay for Job cuts and other Cost reductions through 1995. He restructured the company Stop management sold a subsidiary that served Federal agencies and announced a six part product strategy aimed at taking advantage of a shift to networked computer systems. In an interview earlier this month Gerstner said he wanted shareholders to know that the momentum at the company had changed. My a a o. A v t. X f % v ism chairman Louis v. Gerstner or. Has Good news for shareholders. Apr i think that one of the important messages is that while it was a tremendously difficult year for ism there Are definite signs that we re stabilizing and once stabilized we can now Start turning our attention to growth a he said. That sentiment gained additional credibility with the first Quarter results. Ism earned $392 million and its $13.4 billion in Revenue was 6 percent higher on continuing operations than a year ago. Wall Street responded favourably sending ism Stock near its $60 52-week High. That a up from the $48 Range a year ago but still Well below its $100 Price in the summer of 1992. Gerstner said he does no to expect shareholders to be satisfied with his performance until the Stock Price rises More. A what i Hope they feel is that we re making some Progress and there a some increased likelihood that they will see higher value. A we can to take any credit until we be done  a the ultimate measure is that we be increased shareholder