H.10(512)                                                               December 11, 1998



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 FOR THE WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 11, 1998

 The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is advised that the Federal Reserve
 Bank of New York has certified for customs purposes the following noon buying rates in
 New York City for cable transfers payable in foreign currencies:


 (RATES IN CURRENCY UNITS PER DOLLAR)


                 MONETARY
   COUNTRY         UNIT       Dec. 7       Dec. 8       Dec. 9       Dec. 10      Dec. 11

 *AUSTRALIA      DOLLAR         0.6204       0.6155       0.6165       0.6195       0.6208
  AUSTRIA        SCHILLING     11.806       11.760       11.744       11.648       11.604
  BELGIUM        FRANC         34.61        34.49        34.43        34.14        34.05
  BRAZIL         REAL           1.2030       1.2028       1.2033       1.2030       1.2043
  CANADA         DOLLAR         1.5374       1.5437       1.5435       1.5414       1.5422
  CHINA,P.R.     YUAN           8.2775       8.2775       8.2775       8.2774       8.2774
  DENMARK        KRONE          6.3825       6.3560       6.3470       6.3085       6.2845
 *EURO COMMUNITY ECU            1.1700       1.1740       1.1750       1.1846       1.1880
  FINLAND        MARKKA         5.1030       5.0815       5.0750       5.0430       5.0200
  FRANCE         FRANC          5.6245       5.6045       5.5996       5.5530       5.5345
  GERMANY        D. MARK        1.6773       1.6718       1.6695       1.6550       1.6491
  GREECE         DRACHMA      281.87       280.60       279.70       278.00       276.60
  HONG KONG      DOLLAR         7.7483       7.7485       7.7480       7.7485       7.7475
  INDIA          RUPEE         42.59        42.62        42.60        42.61        42.61
 *IRELAND        POUND          1.4805       1.4860       1.4876       1.5000       1.5055
  ITALY          LIRA        1660.95      1655.10      1653.70      1640.00      1633.85
  JAPAN          YEN          119.63       119.55       118.08       117.07       116.78
  MALAYSIA       RINGGIT        3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.8000
  MEXICO         PESO          10.010        9.942        9.954        9.950        9.938
  NETHERLANDS    GUILDER        1.8915       1.8840       1.8815       1.8675       1.8597
 *NEW ZEALAND    DOLLAR         0.5214       0.5185       0.5155       0.5214       0.5225
  NORWAY         KRONE          7.4870       7.5260       7.5560       7.5600       7.6650
  PORTUGAL       ESCUDO       172.05       171.40       171.20       169.84       169.21
  SINGAPORE      DOLLAR         1.6585       1.6575       1.6490       1.6470       1.6500
  SOUTH AFRICA   RAND           5.9050       6.0200       5.9800       5.9670       5.9750
  SOUTH KOREA    WON         1210.00      1217.00      1217.00      1208.00      1210.00
  SPAIN          PESETA       142.800      142.230      142.050      140.950      140.420
  SRI LANKA      RUPEE         68.090       67.750       67.830       68.000       68.010
  SWEDEN         KRONA          8.1504       8.1040       8.0350       8.0465       8.0220
  SWITZERLAND    FRANC          1.3756       1.3659       1.3603       1.3396       1.3295
  TAIWAN         DOLLAR        32.400       32.400       32.350       32.300       32.310
  THAILAND       BAHT          35.960       35.950       35.810       35.780       35.850
 *UNITED KINGDOM POUND          1.6530       1.6540       1.6580       1.6670       1.6835
  VENEZUELA      BOLIVAR      575.75       572.50       564.75       553.25       559.01

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES   DOLLAR
1)BROAD          JAN97=100    115.14       115.03       114.68       114.28       114.15
2)MAJOR CURRENCY MAR73=100     94.07        94.05        93.67        93.11        92.87
3)OITP           JAN97=100    127.09       126.83       126.62       126.58       126.70
4)G-10           MAR73=100     95.31        95.09        94.79        94.10        93.74

 This release is available online at http://www.federalreserve.gov/release/.

 For more information on exchange rate indexes for the U.S. dollar, see "New Summary Measures
 of the Foreign Exchange Value of the Dollar," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 84 (October 1998),
 pp. 811-18 (http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/) and "Index of the Weighted-Average
 Exchange Value of the U.S. Dollar: Revision," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 64 (August 1978),
 p. 700. Weights for broad index can be found at http://www.federalreserve.gov/; weights for
 the major currencies index and the other important trading partners (OITP) index are derived
 from the broad index weights.

 *  Value is U.S. dollars.
 1) A weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against the currencies
 of a broad group of major U.S. trading partners.
 2) A weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against a subset of
 the broad index currencies that circulate widely outside the country of issue.
 3) A weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against a subset of
 the broad index currencies that do not circulate widely outside the country of issue.
 4) A weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against the currencies
 of the other G-10 countries. We will discontinue publication of this series after December 1998.

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 please call publication services at Federal Reserve Board at (202) 452-3244.