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

DATE: THURSDAY, September 16, 1993                   TAG: 9309160076
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AND WE'RE KEEPING UP WITH OUR LOAN PAYMENTS

The decline in the loan delinquency rate "should support slightly higher consumer spending," said economist David Jones of Aubrey G. Lanston & Co., a government securities dealer in New York.

The American Bankers Association said a seasonally adjusted 2.06 percent of consumer loans were 30 days or more past due at the end of June, down from 2.31 percent in March and 2.6 percent a year earlier.

In Virginia, the bankers association said, 1.5 percent of loans were overdue in the second quarter, up from 1.4 percent a year earlier.

The latest national rate, a composite of eight types of installment loans, was the lowest since 2.02 percent at the end of June 1984.

Economists said slow-but-steady improvement in the job market, low inflation and extensive mortgage refinancing has improved consumers' ability to repay their loans.

"Consumers are halfway home in terms of redressing their balance sheet. They are midway between what could be considered a healthy debt level and the dire situation they had gotten into by the late 1980s," said Elliott Platt of Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette.

The eight types of loans included in the composite are: auto loans made by banks, auto loans bought by banks from other originators, personal loans, second mortgages, home improvement loans, recreational vehicle loans, mobile home loans and boat loans.

The delinquency rate for bank credit cards, which are not included in the composite rate, dropped from 2.74 percent in March to 2.63 percent in June. The rate on home equity lines of credit fell to 0.66 percent from 0.7 percent in March. - Associated Press