Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 19, 1993 TAG: 9310190083
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Economists with several Federal Reserve banks said with U.S. and global economic activity sluggish, inflation should remain tame through at least 1994.
"I see a subdued inflation outlook for a while," said John Duca, senior economist at the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. "What happens two years down the road is anybody's guess."
At the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, senior economist Brian Motley called the inflation outlook "unexciting, but that's what we want."
He said he expected inflation would remain that way "as long as the growth rate of the economy remains fairly modest." Most U.S. economists are predicting moderate growth at an annual rate of 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent for the second half of the year, with a slightly higher rate next year.
Moreover, Motley said, inflation "actually looks like it is weakening a little bit . . . We are settling into a 2.5 percent growth rate on the CPI." The Consumer Price Index, up 2.7 percent so far this year, rose 2.9 percent in 1992. - Associated Press
\ Interest rates up at Treasury auction
The Treasury Department on Monday sold $13 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 3.06 percent, up from 3.04 percent last week. An additional $12.9 billion was sold in six-month bills at an average discount rate of 3.14 percent, up from 3.12 percent last week.
The three-month bill rate was the highest since they sold for 3.10 percent on Aug. 2. The six-month bill rate was the highest since they averaged 3.18 percent on Aug. 9.
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, rose to 3.36 percent last week, up from 3.35 percent the previous week. - Associated Press
\ IBM introduces 1st new-generation PC
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - International Business Machines on Monday introduced its first desktop personal computer based on Intel Corp.'s Pentium chip.
Prices range from $1,040 for the energy-saving personal computer to $4,700 for the Pentium-based desktop, with monitors available separately. A multimedia personal computer starts at $1,500.
The Pentium-based personal computer runs five times as fast as most home computers and can store four times more information. - Knight-Ridder/Tribune
by CNB