Record Amount Withdrawn from S&Ls; Nationwide

Depositors withdrew a record $15.1 billion from the nation’s savings and loans in April, the government said Friday in another confirmation of the rapid retrenchment gripping the industry.

The net withdrawal, which was somewhat offset by $2.9 billion in interest credited to savers’ accounts, reduced deposits at the 2,839 S&Ls; to $916 billion, the Treasury Department’s Office of Thrift Supervision said.

The previous record of $13.4 billion was set three months earlier. Before that, the record was $10.8 billion set in January, 1989.

Analysts attributed the outflow, the 22nd in 23 months, primarily to the need to meet stiff capital standards imposed by last year’s S&L; bailout law, among other reasons.

Few S&Ls; are earning much in profits, and they are having difficulty attracting new capital from investors. Thus, they must shrink their operations, analysts said.

S&L; assets totaled $1.21 trillion, down $12.9 billion from March and $133 billion from a peak of $1.34 trillion in May.

Other reasons cited include the normal April outflow as depositors pay federal tax bills, S&Ls;’ reduced need for funds in a depressed housing market and government sale of S&Ls; to commercial banks.