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

DATE: TUESDAY, June 22, 1993                   TAG: 9306220047
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN BUSINESS

WASHINGTON - The federal budget deficit swelled by $36.96 billion in May, the Treasury Department reported Monday, erasing the surplus a month earlier that typically accompanies the April income tax filing deadline.

As a result, the spending gap so far in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 totaled $211.70 billion, down 8.6 percent from $231.54 billion during the first eight months of fiscal year 1992.

Private analysts now predict the gap may be a bit less than the fiscal year 1992 imbalance.

Economist William V. Sullivan Jr. of Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. attributed the larger receipts this May to "a fairly vigorous performance in income tax collections reflecting continued gains in labor force activity."

Spending totaled $107.72 billion, compared to $124.03 billion the previous month and $108.96 billion in May 1992.

The May deficit, which totaled $47.77 billion a year ago, reached a monthly record of $53.37 billion in 1991.

At T-bill auction, short-term rates up

The Treasury Department on Monday sold $12.11 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 3.10 percent, up from 3.07 percent last week. Another $12.18 billion was sold in six-month bills at an average discount rate of 3.19 percent, unchanged from last week.

The three-month bill rate was the highest since they sold for 3.14 percent on June 7. The six-month bill rate was the highest since they averaged 3.30 percent, also on June 7.

In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, fell to 3.49 percent last week, down from 3.61 percent the previous week.