Savings Bond Sales Up 2.5%: Sales of...

Savings Bond Sales Up 2.5%: Sales of U.S. savings bonds rose $622 million in August, pushing the value of savings bonds held by Americans past $115 billion for the first time, the Treasury Department reported. The August sales were 2.5% higher than July’s sales of $607 million and brought total purchases for the first 11 months of fiscal year 1989 to $7.2 billion, 7% over those for the same period of fiscal 1988. Americans now hold $115.04 billion in savings bonds, the Treasury said. The government raised the interest rate on bonds to 7.81% from 7.35% last May 1.