European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 9, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes Money matters monday May 9, 1994 today a rates following Are fixed rates at which Community banking and credit Union facilities Wilt sell foreign currencies to  personnel for personal use British Pound. 1.53 dutch Guilder. 1.82 German Mark 1.63 greek drachma 236.3507 a nolo Trio rates above apply within Tho Host country., figures Are expressed in dollars to he. 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 / a. A Quot v austrian Schilling 11.7345 Bahrain Dinar 0.37675 belgian franc 34.35 British pound1.4953 Canadian Dollar 1.3824 danish Krone. 6.5346 dutch Guilder 1.8772 French franc 5.7222 German Mark .1.6701 italian lira 1,602.00 Kuwait Dinar 0.2971 norwegian Krone 7.245 portuguese escudo .171.60 saudi rial 3.7498 Spanish peseta 137.00 Swiss franc 1.4206 turkish lira 32,000.00 note figure Are expressed in dollars to the. British Pound other currencies to the Dollar a Govil quote $372.60 an ounce Silver quote $5,10 an ounce sources merchants National Bank amp Trust co., the associated press United press International go ahead for Hanoi Vietnam a the coca cola co is planning to build its first bottling Plant in Northern Vietnam stepping up its Competition against Pepsi for a Market of 70 million people. The details were reported saturday by the. Vietnam investment review a government publication. Coca cola Indochina pc. Ltd. Sci and its local partner Vietnam National foodstuff import Export co. Vina it me have obtained a License to build a $20.4 million Plant 10 Miles South of Hanoi. A a a a. A. The land represents Vignali mex 30 percent share in the joint agreement. Sci will hold the other 70 percent. The factory which will probably be built this year will produce coca cola sprite and fanta Orange. Sci is a joint venture Between. Two major Southeast. Asian bottlers of Coke. Coca cola moved within hours after the . Trade embargo was lifted feb. 3 with applications to set up plants with i a Limox in Hanoi and with another Viet namese partner Chuong Duong in to Chi Mann City formerly Saigon. Coca cola expects to receive the License for for Dollar s by Martin cruts1nger a economics writer Washington Trade tension with Japan congressional carping at the Federal Reserve even new allegations of sexual impropriety by president Clinton a All these developments and More Are being blamed for the dollars puzzling decline on foreign currency markets. Economists Are scrambling for exp la nations because the greenbacks weakness defies Basic economic principles. The Dollar should not be falling at a time when the . Economy is  than it has in years. But that is just what is happening. The decline grew so worrisome that the Clinton administration after pursuing a Dol tar policy described As a benign neglect since taking office suddenly reversed course. It mounted a massive Rescue Effort with 15 other nations last week to bolster the Dollar against the German Mark and to keep it from hitting a record Low against the japanese yen. The Rescue had at least limited Success but the Dollar came under renewed pressure Friday after the government reported that the jobless rate fell to 6.4 percent As payroll employment climbed by More than 1 million jobs Over the past three months a remarkable turnabout. However All the Good news gave Wall Street a bad Case of the jitters with the Dow Jones Industrial average losing 26.47 Points and Treasury a Benchmark 30-year Bond tumbling in Price to drive its yield to 7.54 percent the highest Point of the Clinton presidency. Many economists believe the Dollar will face More downward pressure in coming weeks As the markets test the resolve of governments to keep supporting the Greenback. A a. Tir of these add up to an International perception that this group is no to up to the Job and therefore investors feel worse about the Dollar.�?T. Rallen Sinai economist this situation defies Norma economic logic. Usually a country that is enjoying Strong economic growth especially if interest rates Are also increasing enjoys a Strong currency As foreign investors Rush to take advantage of the growth and Quot Quot  a a 1 some analysts say the difference this time is that the markets have been rattled by increasing criticism in Congress of the feds rate increases. Many lawmakers fear that this pressure will cause Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan to waiver in his resolve to fight inflation always the biggest threat to a currency a value. A. A a a others see the dollars weakness As a loss of Confidence in president Clinton a economic and foreign policies or even in the president himself As he struggles with persistent allegations of misconduct ranging from Whitewater to a lawsuit filed Friday by Paula Corbin Jones alleging that Clinton made unwanted sexual advances in 1991. A fall of these add up to an International perception that this group Isnit up to the Job and therefore investors feel worse about the Dollar a said economist that Plant this month. Coca cola launched a flashy promotional Campaign featuring concerts with dancers Large inflated plastic bottles of Coke set up in to Chi Minh City and Hanoi and free drinks immediately after the embargo was lifted. Even before the lifting of the embargo coca cola was commonplace in Vietnam smuggled into the country through China Thailand and Singapore. Chuong Duong was a Coke bottler in South Vietnam before the end of Tjade War in 1975, when the communists took control of the country and reunified it. More than 500 million bottles of Coke were consumed per year then. Pepsi now is being bottled near to Chi Minh City. Logging in the imports longshoremen unload Pine logs last week from new zealand the first Ever log imports into Longview Wash a major site for Timber exports. The Seattle based Pacific lumber amp shipping co., which owns Mills in Washington and Oregon is experimenting with the foreign Pine in Case of a future shortage in . Timber. Allen Sinai of Lehman Brothers in new York. Other economists put the biggest blame on what they see As a misguided administration Trade policy that has resulted in escalating threats against Japan in an Effort to open that country a markets and lower americans $60 billion deficit with Japan. V the markets believed that a weak japanese government would not be Able to meet americans demands and that the administration would resort to talking the Dollar Down As the Only Way to address the soaring deficit. A weaker Dollar makes japanese goods More expensive for americans and . Products cheaper in Japan. While the Clinton administration has insisted for months that it Wasny to using a weak Dollar As a club against Japan markets did not believe the comments because there was no Active government Effort to stabilize the currency. Even after wednesdays massive buying of dollars Many analysts said the administrations ultimate intentions still remain a mystery Given continued Hartline comments about Japan. Many analysts also believe that the fed will be forced to push interest rates higher As a Way of defending the Dollar. Rising . Interest rates make Dollar denominated investments Morei attractive to foreign investors. Economists think the feds next rate increase could come As Early As today. Some of them Are predicting the next increase whenever it comes will be a Hal percentage Point jump in the Federal funds rate the interest that Banks charge each other accompanied by a half Point increase in the discount rate the feds charge for direct Bank Loans. Japan expected to on Warsaw Poland up . Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown said saturday that Japan has promised to Send a special envoy to the United states a in the very near future with new proposals to resume stalled bilateral Trade talks. A. A a a a Brown said Japan a minister of Trade and Industry Eijiro Hata accepted the proposition that the next move in the dispute must come from Japan. The two Trade officials met during a Trade conference in Warsaw of the group of seven industrialized nations with 10 reforming economies of Central and Eastern Europe. A minister Hata accepted the proposition that it is up to Japan to respond to the Points . Trade representative Mickey Kantor Laid out at Marrakech Morocco a Brown said. A the said Japan would Send a special envoy to the United states in the very near future with new  last month in Marrakech where governments from More than 120 countries signed a liberalized Trade agreement Kantor Laid out conditions for restarting Trade talks with Japan. Talks broke Down at a february Summit. The United states seeks a common ground Quot with Japan in three areas an expansion of Domestic demand in Japan Overall goals for boosting imports of competitive foreign goods and services and the use of objective criteria in judging Japan a Progress in meeting those goals