High interest has N.Y. bank seeking rescue

High interest rates have taken their toll on one of the nation's biggest mutual savings banks, the $2 billion-deposit Greenwich Savings Bank in Manhattan.

The situation appears so glum that a number of federal regulators met in a closed meeting in New York this week to discuss merger possibilities for the bank. The hope is that a large commercial bank will buy Greenwich Savings, which had an $8.6 million deficit in the fourth quarter of 1980, $14.4 million in this year's first quarter, and $18.6 million in the second quarter, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The paper also quoted Muriel Siebert, state banking superintendent, as saying a takeover of the bank would have to be accomplished with help from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. ''No one would take one of these institutions without assistance,'' she said.

It is reported that there is no immediate danger of the bank's collapsing this year. Ms. Siebert said the bank has enough capital to meet all obligations and interest coming due at the end of the year.