No Postage Stamp Increase Planned

The cost of a postage stamp will stay right where it is, at least for now, Postmaster General Marvin Runyon said Thursday.

“We may end up raising stamp prices. But I can say for certain it is not happening yet,” Runyon said, dismissing predictions of a 1998 postal rate hike of as much as 20 percent.

“I promised you we would evaluate our financial situation this month. We are. But for now, stamp prices are staying right where they are,” he told the Postal Customer Council, which represents heavy users of the U.S. mail.

The Postal Service last raised stamp prices on Jan. 1, 1995, from 29 to 32 cents for a first class letter.

Its $888 million net income through February is $62 million ahead of expectations. If profits hold, it would be just the second instance of three consecutive profitable years in a quarter-century.