DIGEST
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said cuts in the budget deficit would lead to lower interest rates but would not necessarily weaken the dollar. At a conference on deficits and debt sponsored by the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, Greenspan said the dollar could benefit from the boosted confidence in the country's long-term inflation outlook.</br></br>The auto industry's overall sales rose about 3 percent in August. General Motors posted gains in five of its seven vehicle divisions, reporting that U.S. sales of cars and light trucks were up about 7 percent from a year ago. Honda reported its best month ever, and Chrysler and Nissan also showed sales improvements from last August. Ford and Toyota did not report sales.</br></br>Construction spending rose 2 percent in July, the largest gain in nearly two years. The Commerce Department said spending on residential, nonresidential and government projects totaled $529.8 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, up from $519.6 billion in June.</br></br>Senior U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green ordered that $393 million seized from the Bank of Credit and Commerce International be turned over to victims of its criminal activity. Disbursement of the funds had been held up because of a series of challenges to Green's 1992 forfeiture order; the largest group of challenges was rejected recently by the Supreme Court, clearing the way for the money to be divided up.</br></br>MCI and AT&T asked the FCC to block a French and a German telephone company from collectively buying 20 percent of Sprint. The Justice Department already has cleared the $4.1 billion deal, but MCI and AT&T want the FCC to stop it until France and Germany open their telecommunications markets to U.S. companies.