THE ECONOMY

Credit Crunch Program Slow, Survey Says: President Clinton’s 5-month-old program to ease the credit crunch hasn’t yet resulted in many more loans to borrowers, bankers told the Federal Reserve Board in a survey. At a White House ceremony in March, Clinton unveiled a loan-stimulating package of regulatory changes, promising “billions of dollars of economic stimulus that doesn’t cost the taxpayers one red cent.” Nonetheless, it appeared the credit crunch, a term used to describe a scarcity of credit caused by stiff bank requirements and weak consumer and business demand, might be resolving itself. The Fed said that in August there was “a continuation of the easing of lending terms and standards reported in the May survey.”