Feb. S&L; Deposit Withdrawals Reported at Near-Record Levels

WASHINGTON — As members of the House Banking Committee began writing legislation to bail out the troubled savings and loan industry, S&L; regulators today announced that deposit withdrawals remained at near-record levels in February.

The Federal Home Loan Bank Board said depositors withdrew $9.4 billion from S&Ls; in February, down only slightly from the all-time record of $10.6 billion in withdrawals in January.

For just the first two months of this year, withdrawals have totaled $20 billion, more than double the net withdrawals for all of 1988, which were $8.6 billion.

Analysts attributed the bulk of the withdrawals in both January and February to the failure of S&Ls; to keep pace with rising interest rates offered by competitors, principally money market mutual funds.

The latest bad news on declining deposits came as the House Banking subcommittee on financial institutions began voting on the first of several of the 165 proposed amendments to the S&L; legislation.