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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 13, 1993                   TAG: 9304130106
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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IN BUSINESS

Savings bond sales plummet 31 percent

WASHINGTON - Sales of U.S. savings bonds in March plunged 30.5 percent from February as the government cut the guaranteed minimum rate on the securities from 6 percent to 4 percent.

Sales totaled $1.41 billion, the lowest in eight months but still up 23 percent from a year ago and the highest March total in the 52-year history of the savings bond program.

Savings bonds held five years or longer earn the guaranteed minimum rate or the average of market-based rates for the period, whichever is greater. The latest market-based rate is 5.04 percent.

The value of savings bonds held at the end of March was $163.6 billion, up from $142 billion last year. - Associated Press

Coal output for year off about 6 percent

Domestic coal production totaled 18 million tons during the week ending April 3, down 10 percent from 19.9 million tons the previous week, the U.S. Department of Energy said Monday. The U.S. coal industry produced 18 million tons in the same week last year. Production so far this year is 258 million tons, about 6 percent behind last year's production at this time. - Staff report

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