FIRST INTERSTATE &lt;I> ESTIMATES BRAZIL RISKS

  First Interstate Bancorp said its
  1987 pre-tax income could be reduced by about 33.5 mln dlrs if
  it decides to reclassify its 339 mln dlrs in medium- to
  long-term loans to Brazil as nonperforming.
      But the company stressed in a filing with the Securities
  and Exchange Commission that it believes it is too soon to
  reclassify the debt, despite Brazil's Feb 20 suspension of
  direct interest payments on medium- and long-term loans.
      "The corporation believes that it is premature to make a
  decsion to classify such medium- and long-term debt as
  nonperforming at this time," First Interstate said.
      But First Interstate said that if Brazil's suspension of
  interest payments continues, it may have to reclassify its
  loans as nonperforming and place them on non-accrual, meaning
  that interest previously accrued but not paid would be deducted
  from net income and interest would no longer be accrued.
      Besides its medium- and long-term debt, First Interstate
  said it also has 165 mln dlrs in short-term loans or trade
  lines in Brazil.
      As of Dec 31, 1986, nonperforming Brazilian outstandings
  were about 4.1 mln dlrs, it said.
  

