FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                                      November 20, 1998



  H.10(512)					  FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES FOR THE WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 20, 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       Nov. 16      Nov. 17      Nov. 18      Nov. 19      Nov. 20

 *AUSTRALIA      DOLLAR         0.6385       0.6343       0.6457       0.6437       0.6436
  AUSTRIA        SCHILLING     11.737       11.745       11.748       11.849       11.886
  BELGIUM        FRANC         34.41        34.43        34.45        34.73        34.86
  BRAZIL         REAL           1.1904       1.1906       1.1915       1.1925       1.1950
  CANADA         DOLLAR         1.5550       1.5487       1.5557       1.5500       1.5452
  CHINA,P.R.     YUAN           8.2778       8.2778       8.2779       8.2779       8.2777
  DENMARK        KRONE          6.3380       6.3470       6.3500       6.3995       6.4230
 *EURO COMMUNITY ECU            1.1800       1.1782       1.1778       1.1683       1.1635
  FINLAND        MARKKA         5.0720       5.0770       5.0780       5.1175       5.1360
  FRANCE         FRANC          5.5940       5.5970       5.5997       5.6460       5.6615
  GERMANY        D. MARK        1.6670       1.6695       1.6700       1.6845       1.6892
  GREECE         DRACHMA      280.85       280.49       280.60       282.10       283.25
  HONG KONG      DOLLAR         7.7437       7.7435       7.7445       7.7440       7.7425
  INDIA          RUPEE         42.41        42.50        42.50        42.50        42.45
 *IRELAND        POUND          1.4900       1.4890       1.4883       1.4755       1.4720
  ITALY          LIRA        1651.00      1652.00      1653.30      1666.60      1673.00
  JAPAN          YEN          119.70       121.30       121.44       119.65       120.32
  MALAYSIA       RINGGIT        3.8002       3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.7998
  MEXICO         PESO           9.968        9.945        9.940        9.930        9.900
  NETHERLANDS    GUILDER        1.8808       1.8820       1.8833       1.8975       1.9045
 *NEW ZEALAND    DOLLAR         0.5385       0.5345       0.5390       0.5412       0.5370
  NORWAY         KRONE          7.4480       7.4250       7.4415       7.4800       7.4680
  PORTUGAL       ESCUDO       171.05       171.22       171.30       172.60       173.23
  SINGAPORE      DOLLAR         1.6310       1.6335       1.6315       1.6245       1.6290
  SOUTH AFRICA   RAND           5.6660       5.6890       5.6750       5.6375       5.6200
  SOUTH KOREA    WON         1317.00      1300.00      1300.00      1292.00      1268.00
  SPAIN          PESETA       141.850      141.930      142.000      143.100      143.680
  SRI LANKA      RUPEE         67.590       67.600       67.300       67.630       68.000
  SWEDEN         KRONA          8.0750       8.0530       8.0430       8.0978       8.0730
  SWITZERLAND    FRANC          1.3735       1.3740       1.3747       1.3870       1.3912
  TAIWAN         DOLLAR        32.600       32.550       32.650       32.600       32.650
  THAILAND       BAHT          36.580       36.540       36.250       36.300       36.200
 *UNITED KINGDOM POUND          1.6755       1.6775       1.6720       1.6677       1.6542
  VENEZUELA      BOLIVAR      569.00       569.25       569.30       569.50       570.25

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES   DOLLAR
1)BROAD          JAN97=100    115.32       115.38       115.45       115.24       115.19
2)MAJOR CURRENCY MAR73=100     94.05        94.29        94.44        94.26        94.46
3)OITP           JAN97=100    127.57       127.32       127.22       127.00       126.53
4)G-10           MAR73=100     94.90        95.06        95.18        95.49        95.80

 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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