1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                               July 31, 1996



 G.5(405)                 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES FOR THE MONTH ENDING  JULY 1996

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN JULY 1996 TOGETHER
 WITH COMPARABLE FIGURES FOR OTHER MONTHS. 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       1996         1996         1996         1995
    COUNTRY          UNIT         July         June          May         July

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.7897       0.7912       0.7970       0.7279
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      10.576       10.755       10.782        9.765
  BELGIUM          FRANC          30.947       31.433       31.502       28.562
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.3697       1.3658       1.3693       1.3612
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3409       8.3424       8.3479       8.3207
  DENMARK          KRONE           5.8014       5.8941       5.9160       5.4073
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.2570       1.2379       1.2283       1.3339
  FINLAND          MARKKA          4.5812       4.6710       4.7541       4.2592
  FRANCE           FRANC           5.0881       5.1787       5.1855       4.8307
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.5025       1.5282       1.5324       1.3886
  GREECE           DRACHMA       237.65       241.75       243.27       225.45
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7379       7.7404       7.7363       7.7385
  INDIA            RUPEE          35.667       35.100       35.025       31.385
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.6031       1.5831       1.5629       1.6396
  ITALY            LIRA         1526.82      1542.30      1556.71      1609.71
  JAPAN            YEN           109.19       108.96       106.34        87.40
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         2.4915       2.4967       2.4936       2.4500
  MEXICO           PESO            7.6179       7.5648       7.4368       6.1220
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         1.6862       1.7120       1.7135       1.5557
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.6900       0.6765       0.6857       0.6742
  NORWAY           KRONE           6.4465       6.5376       6.5748       6.1710
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        154.56       157.40       157.54       145.88
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.4160       1.4090       1.4074       1.3984
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            4.3963       4.3519       4.3679       3.6404
  SOUTH KOREA      WON           813.03       798.45       780.86       760.05
  SPAIN            PESETA        126.96       128.87       127.97       119.71
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          55.293       55.529       54.868       50.899
  SWEDEN           KRONA           6.6394       6.6807       6.7984       7.1749
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.2320       1.2579       1.2539       1.1556
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         27.573       27.674       27.352       26.278
  THAILAND         BAHT           25.355       25.354       25.289       24.755
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.5530       1.5416       1.5152       1.5952

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         87.25        88.16        88.28        81.90
 *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.

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