BANKING & FINANCE - March 18, 1993

New Estimate Given on S&L; Cleanup Cost: Robert Reischauer, director of the Congressional Budget Office, told a House Banking subcommittee that completing the cleanup of the nation’s savings and loan industry will cost more than the $45 billion requested this week by Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen. About $50 billion will be needed to cover the expenses of the Resolution Trust Corp., the nation’s thrift cleanup agency, and the Savings Assn. Insurance Fund between now and 1998, Reischauer said. Congress will need to appropriate about $43 billion to the RTC and SAIF just to cover losses from insolvent thrifts and administrative costs through 1998, Reischauer said.