1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                            October 31, 1996



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

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN OCTOBER 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        October     September     August       October

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.7918       0.7928       0.7830       0.7570
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      10.748       10.610       10.435        9.954
  BELGIUM          FRANC          31.470       31.056       30.553       29.105
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.3508       1.3694       1.3722       1.3458
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3299       8.3341       8.3379       8.3353
  DENMARK          KRONE           5.8576       5.8057       5.7327       5.4912
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.2537       1.2576       1.2685       1.2985
  FINLAND          MARKKA          4.5694       4.5421       4.4793       4.2781
  FRANCE           FRANC           5.1652       5.1307       5.0636       4.9374
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.5277       1.5080       1.4826       1.4143
  GREECE           DRACHMA       239.76       239.67       237.00       232.65
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7322       7.7328       7.7345       7.7317
  INDIA            RUPEE          35.804       35.870       35.800       34.656
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.6083       1.6096       1.6108       1.6132
  ITALY            LIRA         1523.82      1520.48      1516.62      1605.69
  JAPAN            YEN           112.41       109.93       107.87       100.84
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         2.5074       2.5009       2.4933       2.5324
  MEXICO           PESO            7.7345       7.5441       7.5143       6.7452
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         1.7141       1.6905       1.6633       1.5846
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.7003       0.6964       0.6886       0.6590
  NORWAY           KRONE           6.4810       6.4613       6.4153       6.2397
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        154.28       153.99       152.27       148.94
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.4124       1.4086       1.4124       1.4231
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            4.5799       4.5489       4.5289       3.6502
  SOUTH KOREA      WON           828.24       822.40       817.52       767.20
  SPAIN            PESETA        128.60       127.11       125.72       122.51
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          57.015       56.050       55.603       52.539
  SWEDEN           KRONA           6.6006       6.6427       6.6211       6.8301
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.2586       1.2343       1.2029       1.1453
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         27.532       27.500       27.496       26.925
  THAILAND         BAHT           25.474       25.407       25.289       25.115
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.5863       1.5593       1.5499       1.5779

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         87.98        87.46        86.54        84.10
 *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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