Agency seeks to boost stamp price to 37 cents

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Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 | 10:46 a.m.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Postal Service announced today that it will file for a rate increase, effective next year, that would boost the price of a first-class stamp to 37 cents.

Stamp prices went up to the current 34-cent level in January and many other rates rose again this summer, but the post office still faces a deficit of $1.6 billion this year.

Postal Board Chairman Robert F. Rider said the agency had to act now because it takes nearly a year to raise rates under the cumbersome process involved. "This was a very difficult decision," Rider said.

The increase in first-class stamps will be accompanied by increases in other types of mail as well. Rider said the overall rise in rates will be just under 9 percent.