Possible Clues:

• American's covering up old city with debt at exorbitant rate
• Charging excessive interest as in Bible
• Taking great interest?
• A description of exceptional interest
• Given to charging excessive interest, in biblical or modern times
• That's the 23 down
• That's much too interesting for us at either end
• Generating lots of interest, it makes us inquisitive, first off
• America announced you are with debts getting too much interest
• Greedy American banks in uproar over promissory notes