First Interstate Bank Corp spent about 3.5 mln dlrs on its attempted takeover of BankAmerica Corp, First Interstate Chairman Joseph Pinola said. In response to a shareholder’s question following the company’s annual meeting, Pinola also said that figure could ultimately be lower depending on the outcome of negotiations with the firm’s insurers. Pinola explained that the company’s insurance rates went up “substantially” after last year’s attempt to acquire BankAmerica Corp.

Canada’s retail sales, seasonally adjusted, rose 1.9 pct in February after a downward revised 0.3 pct decline in January, Statistics Canada said. Retail sales rose to 12.19 billion dlrs in February, a significant increase over the 11.97 billion dlrs recorded in January, the federal agency said. Unadjusted sales were 7.8 pct higher than in February, 1986. In February, automobile sales rose 3.4 pct, department store sales rose 3.2 pct and service stations were up 1.

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed rules to shield water supplies from potential leaks from 1.4 mln underground storage tanks, nearly half of which are used to store gasoline at service stations. It said the rules would require owners and operators of the tanks containing petroleum products or certain hazardous chemicals to monitor the tanks for leaks and, in case of leaks, to notify appropriate authorities. The owners and operators of petroleum tanks would also be financially responsible for any contamination, the EPA said.

Kuwait, a major oil producer hit by last year’s price slump, is leaning towards a more creative monetary policy to help spur its economy, banking sources said. “There is a clear emphasis on encouraging the use of money in productive ventures, rather than having it all tied up in interest bearing investments which have no direct productive outlet,” one banker said. Kuwait’s Central Bank yesterday cut one key money market rate and abandoned another which had been used since February 1986 to direct inter-bank borrowing and lending costs.

The Supreme Court refused to dismiss a Justice Department civil suit charging Archer Daniels Midland Co, ADM, and Nabisco Brands Inc with violating the antitrust laws. The high court let stand lower court rulings that rejected the motion by the two companies seeking dismissal of the suit. The suit challenged the 1982 agreement by Nabisco to lease both of its high fructose corn syrup, HFCS, plants to ADM. The department said that before 1982 ADM was the second largest U.

Roy Denman, the European Community representative in Washington, warned the United States against setting a rule that trading partners running a surplus should be “beaten over the head” for not removing trade barriers. Denman, in an Op-Ed piece in today’s Washington Post, said trade disputes should be dealt with through negotiations, either bilaterally or multilaterally, through the Geneva-based United Nations agency, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, GATT. Denman’s comments came as the Senate was to begin debate this week on a major trade bill.

The volume of U.K. Retail sales rose a final, seasonally adjusted 2.21 pct in February after falling a final 2.16 pct in January, Department of Trade and Industry figures show. The February all-retailers sales index, base 1980, was put at a final 125.0 after 122.3 in January. In the three months from December 1986 to February 1987, the level of sales was unchanged from the previous three months but was up by almost 6.

President Reagan is expected to tell Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone this week that the U.S. May be able to lift trade sanctions against Japan by the end of June, the New York Times said. The newspaper, quoting administration officials, said that under such a scenario the President would announce just before the June 8-10 economic summit meeting in Venice that he hoped to lift the restrictions on electronics imports by the end of the month.

Finance minister Manuel Azpurua said he will visit Japan in mid-May to seek new credits for planned expansion in Venezuela’s state-owned aluminum, steel and petrochemical industries. Azpurua told reporters he will be accompanied by central bank president Hernan Anzola and director of public finance Jorge Marcano. “The idea is to hold meetings with Japanese economic and financial authorities, with the banks which have business and credits in Venezuela and with some of the Japanese companies already active here,” Azpurua said.

European Community (EC) agriculture ministers resume discussions in Luxembourg tomorrow on tough 1987/88 farm price proposals from the bloc"s executive Commission with only thin hopes of reaching a quick agreement. Their current chairman, Belgium"s Paul de Keersmaeker, promised at the end of the group"s last meeting that if agreement appeared in sight this week, he would keep his colleagues at the negotiating table for long days and nights. But one diplomat told journalists: “I don"t think you need to worry about that.