H.10(512)                                                               December 18, 1998



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 FOR THE WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 18, 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. 14      Dec. 15      Dec. 16      Dec. 17      Dec. 18

 *AUSTRALIA      DOLLAR         0.6204       0.6235       0.6187       0.6231       0.6211
  AUSTRIA        SCHILLING     11.620       11.661       11.720       11.723       11.724
  BELGIUM        FRANC         34.07        34.19        34.36        34.36        34.41
  BRAZIL         REAL           1.2050       1.2050       1.2050       1.2053       1.2065
  CANADA         DOLLAR         1.5405       1.5420       1.5390       1.5422       1.5448
  CHINA,P.R.     YUAN           8.2777       8.2778       8.2778       8.2777       8.2777
  DENMARK        KRONE          6.2840       6.3115       6.3360       6.3290       6.3375
 *EURO COMMUNITY ECU            1.1895       1.1848       1.1793       1.1795       1.1789
  FINLAND        MARKKA         5.0215       5.0420       5.0710       5.0580       5.0660
  FRANCE         FRANC          5.5355       5.5605       5.5880       5.5860       5.5854
  GERMANY        D. MARK        1.6496       1.6591       1.6669       1.6662       1.6654
  GREECE         DRACHMA      276.60       278.00       279.95       279.57       279.68
  HONG KONG      DOLLAR         7.7485       7.7490       7.7480       7.7478       7.7458
  INDIA          RUPEE         42.60        42.60        42.60        42.62        42.60
 *IRELAND        POUND          1.5042       1.4972       1.4905       1.4905       1.4900
  ITALY          LIRA        1633.50      1641.70      1649.50      1649.75      1648.70
  JAPAN          YEN          115.08       116.73       115.68       116.33       115.67
  MALAYSIA       RINGGIT        3.7997       3.8100       3.8000       3.8100       3.8002
  MEXICO         PESO           9.944        9.953        9.885        9.800        9.773
  NETHERLANDS    GUILDER        1.8600       1.8685       1.8777       1.8775       1.8770
 *NEW ZEALAND    DOLLAR         0.5210       0.5222       0.5220       0.5248       0.5215
  NORWAY         KRONE          7.7670       7.8120       7.6635       7.6970       7.7255
  PORTUGAL       ESCUDO       169.17       170.00       170.80       170.81       170.79
  SINGAPORE      DOLLAR         1.6442       1.6500       1.6475       1.6485       1.6477
  SOUTH AFRICA   RAND           6.0180       6.0300       5.9900       5.8925       5.9300
  SOUTH KOREA    WON         1205.00      1213.00      1210.00      1211.00      1210.00
  SPAIN          PESETA       140.380      141.050      141.750      141.730      141.720
  SRI LANKA      RUPEE         68.100       67.750       68.180       68.300       68.250
  SWEDEN         KRONA          8.0370       8.0520       8.0410       8.1100       8.0340
  SWITZERLAND    FRANC          1.3338       1.3415       1.3441       1.3487       1.3482
  TAIWAN         DOLLAR        32.200       32.200       32.300       32.320       32.300
  THAILAND       BAHT          35.840       36.250       36.330       36.760       36.370
 *UNITED KINGDOM POUND          1.6885       1.6853       1.6765       1.6750       1.6803
  VENEZUELA      BOLIVAR      561.55       562.00       562.50       562.85       563.00

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES   DOLLAR
1)BROAD          JAN97=100    113.86       114.38       114.25       114.38       114.20
2)MAJOR CURRENCY MAR73=100     92.49        93.00        92.92        93.12        93.00
3)OITP           JAN97=100    126.64       127.04       126.86       126.83       126.59
4)G-10           MAR73=100     93.54        94.04        94.23        94.36        94.22

 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.