DIGEST
Banks must do a better job ensuring that their customers understand the risks of investing in uninsured bank products, such as mutual funds and annuities, according to the FDIC, which unveiled initiatives designed to improve training of bank officers and bank examiners.</br></br>U.S. cigarette exports totaled $728.6 million during the first two months of 1996, 7 percent more than the same time a year ago, the Agriculture Department said.</br></br>Americans aged 45 to 64 are likely to boost the economy into the next century because their incomes and accumulated wealth exceed other age groups, a Conference Board report said. Average household income for those in the 45-54 age group, for example, is currently 140 percent higher than for those under 25. It was 80 percent higher in 1970. Middle-aged Americans, ages 45-54, earn 50 percent more than those in the 25-34 age bracket, up from 25 percent in 1970.</br></br>T-bill rates were unchanged. The discount rate on three-month Treasury bills auctioned yesterday was 5.02 percent, the same as the previous week. The rate on six-month bills was 5.14 percent. The actual return to investors is 5.16 percent for three-month bills, with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,873.10, and 5.35 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,740.10. Separately, the Federal Reserve said the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for changing adjustable-rate mortgages, rose to 5.67 percent last week from 5.63 percent the previous week.</br></br>Japan's current account surplus shrank 8.5 percent in March, to $12.03 billion, as imports continued to grow faster than exports, the Finance Ministry said. For the fiscal year ended March 31, the surplus in the current account, which measures the value of the merchandise, services and investment that flow in and out of the country, fell 24 percent, the third straight annual decline.