Start-up company again to seek funding for Monroe auto plant: The new head of V-Vehicle Co. says the company will be going back to the federal Energy Department in a quest for $321.1 million in loans. However, acting CEO Raymond Lane says the company also will have to come up with another $50 million in private investment and obtain a $50 million credit pool to satisfy federal concerns. Lane says the Energy Department recently rejected V-Vehicle’s application because of those financial concerns as well as questions about the company’s distribution network for eventually selling the car and about the company’s cost controls. In the meantime, Lane says V-Vehicle still plans to build its automobile in Monroe.
Watching interest rates: Federal Reserve officials at their March meeting stressed the importance of making sure record-low interest rates don’t feed new speculative bubbles in stocks or other assets. Some officials said the Fed’s pledge to keep rates low for an “extended period” doesn’t mean a fixed period of time; rather, it depends on the strength of the economy, according to minutes of the meeting. Analysts have taken the pledge to mean rates need to stay at record lows for roughly six months to help underpin the recovery. The officials at the March meeting argued that the pledge wouldn’t stop the Fed from boosting rates if the economy showed signs of picking up substantially or if inflation took off. On the other hand, the pledge “could last for some time” if the economy took a turn for the worse.
