1 The National Finance Section announced today that it is lowering the............on savings bonds. 2 The............point decli

Part One. Questions 1 to 12.
You will hear a report in brief about the lowering of the interest rates.
As you listen, for question 1 to 12, complete the notes, using up to three words or a number.
After you have listened once, replay the recording.
You now have forty-five seconds to read through the notes.
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Now listen, and complete the notes.
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Man: The National Finance Section announced today that it is lowering the guaranteed interest rate on savings bonds. ABS’s Micheal Lee reports that the 2/3 point decline to 6% came as no surprise to investors. The Section said it is lowering the rate on savings bonds to bring it in line with other market interest rates which have been falling all year. For instance, money market mutual funds are now yielding just over 5% ; five-year treasury notes are trading at about 6. 5%. So the government has been paying a premium to people buying savings bonds, and it’s turned out to be an expensive way to finance the public debt The relatively generous 7. 5% rate on the bonds has made them very popular in the past few months. Since the beginning of August, sales have been about double the usual pace. And this week, the rush to buy savings bonds intensified because of reports that the Section was going to cut the rate any day, and people wanted to lock in the old rate. Savings bonds bought before tomorrow, the day the cut goes into effect, will still yield 7. 5%. I’m Micheal Lee in Washington, D. C.
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Now listen to the recording again.
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That is the end of Part One. You now have twenty seconds to check your answers.
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