U.S. THRIFTS CUT LIABILITIES IN JANUARY
The Federal Home Loan Bank Board
said thrift institutions insured by the Federal Savings and
Loan Insurance Corp reduced their liabilities at a 4.1 pct
annual rate during January.
    It was the first drop in liabilities in a year and resulted
from repayments of borrowings, the bank board said.
    Mortgage loans closed by thrifts in January totaled 15.2
billion dlrs, down from 31.6 billion dlrs in December. Net new
deposit withdrawals were up to 2.2 billion dlrs from 1.9
billion dlrs in December.
    Total liabilities in January were 1.108 trillion dlrs,
compared with 1.112 trillion dlrs in December. Capital rose to
53.51 billion dlrs from 53.17 billion dlrs in December.
    The bank board said thrifts were net repayers of 4.4
billion dlrs of borrowings in January, in contrast to their 6.3
billion dlr net increase in borrowings in December.
 Reuter
