DIGEST
Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan told the House Small Business Committee that he sees signs that an improving economy is finally beginning to break the grip of the "credit crunch" that has stifled business lending the past two years - but it is too soon to declare victory. He pledged that federal regulators would continue doing what they could to ease regulatory burdens that bankers have complained are a big part of the problem.</br></br>Chevy Chase Savings Bank established a $25 million fund to promote home ownership among low- and moderate-income residents of the Washington area. The thrift will use the money to offer mortgage loans at below- market interest rates through its B.F. Saul Mortgage subsidiary.</br></br>Mortgage rates fell this week. Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 7.50 percent, down from 7.57 percent last week, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said. On one-year adjustable rate mortgages, the average initial rate was 4.75 percent, down from 4.82 percent last week.</br></br>Sales of existing homes tumbled 6.1 percent in February, the second monthly decline in a row, the National Association of Realtors said. The seasonally adjusted annual rate in February was 3.55 million units, down from the 3.78 million pace in January.</br></br>Lee Iacocca received nearly $14.6 million in compensation from Chrysler last year and $5.7 million more from cashing in old stock options, said a filing with the SEC. The amount - $20.3 million - rivaled Iacocca's biggest annual compensation package in 1986, when he received $20.6 million in cash and stock proceeds.