FBI to Probe Apparent Leak of GNP Data

Commerce Department officials said Monday that they have asked the FBI to investigate an apparent leak of a sensitive economic report last week.

The department said it received a call last Thursday, 16 hours before the official release of the gross national product, from an unidentified caller who had the correct number.

The report, which said the GNP was rising at an annual rate of 2.8% in the third quarter, was officially released at 8:30 a.m. Friday.

Traders in various financial markets said there were widespread rumors of the 2.8% number on Thursday afternoon. These rumors sparked a drop in interest rates in bond markets.

B. Jay Cooper, press spokesman for Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige, said the FBI had been asked to look into the matter, along with the department’s inspector general.

Cooper said the Securities and Exchange Commission, which enforces insider-trading laws, is already investigating an earlier possible leak of the GNP report in July.

Cooper said he did not know how long the various investigations would last, but he said the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which produces the GNP report and various other economic statistics, had already moved to improve internal security by reducing the number of people who have access to the reports before they are released and to tighten computer procedures.