After many in the banking industry became concerned that doubling Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) deposit coverage would mean premiums would have to be assessed, the FDIC released figures from outside economists painting a less bleak picture. The FDIC's earlier projection that the higher coverage would mean a $400 billion rise in insured deposits triggered concern that this would push the federal reserves to insured deposits ratio below the legal minimum. But the outside economists, who were working for the agency, calculated a rise of only $270 billion, which would not pass the statutory minimum. As the FDIC prepares to release proposed deposit insurance reforms this week, FDIC insurance division director Art Murton says one possibility is moving back to the steady annual premiums banks paid prior to the 1980s banking crisis. This way, banks would only have their premiums raised if they received new deposits. Murton says the FDIC is also looking into the possibility of rebates of excess premiums, as were used in those days.