Tight money got tighter last week. Led by Manhattan's First National City Bank, the nation's third largest, banks raised their prime ratethe minimum interest charge on short-term loans to top-quality borrowersfrom 5¾% to 6%. That was the fourth increase in the prime rate in the nine months since the Federal Reserve Board started the trend by raising its discount ratethe interest charge for loans to member banksto 4½% last December. Though the Federal Reserve has since stood pat on its basic yardstick of money costs, swelling demand for loans has prompted banks to increase their prime rate to 5%...
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