G.5A(405)                                                       January 7, 1997





               THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN 1996 TOGETHER
               WITH COMPARABLE FIGURES FOR OTHER YEARS. AVERAGES ARE BASED ON DAILY NOON BUYING
               RATES FOR CABLE TRANSFERS IN NEW YORK CITY CERTIFIED FOR CUSTOMS PURPOSES BY
               THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK.


                                                    (RATES IN CURRENCY UNITS PER DOLLAR)


                                 MONETARY
                  COUNTRY          UNIT         1996         1995         1994         1993

               *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.7828       0.7407       0.7316       0.6799
                AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      10.589       10.076       11.409       11.639
                BELGIUM          FRANC          30.968       29.472       33.426       34.581
                CANADA           DOLLAR          1.3638       1.3725       1.3664       1.2902
                CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3395       8.3700       8.6404       5.7795
                DENMARK          KRONE           5.8009       5.5999       6.3561       6.4863
               *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.2520       1.2941       1.1862       1.1695
                FINLAND          MARKKA          4.5948       4.3763       5.2340       5.7251
                FRANCE           FRANC           5.1158       4.9864       5.5459       5.6669
                GERMANY          D. MARK         1.5049       1.4321       1.6216       1.6545
                GREECE           DRACHMA       240.82       231.68       242.50       229.64
                HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7345       7.7357       7.7290       7.7357
                INDIA            RUPEE          35.510       32.418       31.394       31.291
               *IRELAND          POUND           1.5995       1.6035       1.4969       1.4647
                ITALY            LIRA         1542.76      1629.45      1611.49      1573.41
                JAPAN            YEN           108.78        93.96       102.18       111.08
                MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         2.5154       2.5073       2.6237       2.5738
                MEXICO           PESO            7.6004       6.4467       3.3853       3.1237
                NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         1.6863       1.6044       1.8190       1.8585
               *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.6877       0.6563       0.5936       0.5413
                NORWAY           KRONE           6.4594       6.3355       7.0553       7.1009
                PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        154.28       149.88       165.93       161.08
                SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.4100       1.4171       1.5275       1.6158
                SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            4.3042       3.6284       3.5526       3.2729
                SOUTH KOREA      WON           805.00       772.69       806.93       805.75
                SPAIN            PESETA        126.68       124.64       133.88       127.48
                SRI LANKA        RUPEE          55.289       51.047       49.170       48.211
                SWEDEN           KRONA           6.7082       7.1406       7.7161       7.7956
                SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.2361       1.1812       1.3667       1.4781
                TAIWAN           DOLLAR         27.468       26.495       26.465       26.416
                THAILAND         BAHT           25.359       24.921       25.161       25.333
               *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.5607       1.5785       1.5319       1.5016


                MEMO:
              **UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         87.34        84.25        91.32        93.18

               *VALUE IS U.S. DOLLARS

               **INDEX OF WEIGHTED AVERAGE EXCHANGE VALUE OF U.S. DOLLAR AGAINST CURRENCIES OF OTHER
               G-10 COUNTRIES.  MARCH 1973 = 100.  WEIGHTS ARE 1972-76 GLOBAL TRADE OF EACH OF THE
               10 COUNTRIES.  SERIES REVISED AS OF AUGUST 1978.  FOR  DESCRIPTION AND BACK DATA, SEE
               "INDEX OF THE WEIGHTED-AVERAGE EXCHANGE VALUE OF THE U.S. DOLLAR: REVISION" ON PAGE
               700 OF THE AUGUST 1978 FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN.