1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                            February 3, 1997



 G.5(405)              FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES FOR THE MONTH ENDING  JANUARY 1997

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN JANUARY 1997 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       1997         1996         1996         1996
    COUNTRY          UNIT        January     December     November      January

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.7776       0.7966       0.7968       0.7417
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      11.289       10.923       10.640       10.296
  BELGIUM          FRANC          33.087       31.944       31.153       30.080
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.3494       1.3622       1.3381       1.3669
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3260       8.3290       8.3294       8.3384
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.1199       5.9428       5.8053       5.6618
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.2096       1.2425       1.2700       1.2602
  FINLAND          MARKKA          4.7766       4.6388       4.5512       4.4510
  FRANCE           FRANC           5.4145       5.2427       5.1156       5.0117
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.6047       1.5525       1.5118       1.4635
  GREECE           DRACHMA       251.54       245.70       238.38       240.91
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7397       7.7355       7.7323       7.7329
  INDIA            RUPEE          35.904       35.882       35.892       35.812
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.6311       1.6593       1.6645       1.5818
  ITALY            LIRA         1567.91      1528.44      1513.66      1584.87
  JAPAN            YEN           117.91       113.98       112.30       105.75
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         2.4900       2.5251       2.5234       2.5563
  MEXICO           PESO            7.8289       7.8769       7.9119       7.4806
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         1.8023       1.7420       1.6958       1.6388
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.7009       0.7050       0.7098       0.6619
  NORWAY           KRONE           6.4589       6.4716       6.3554       6.4275
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        160.53       156.54       152.83       151.90
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.4061       1.3999       1.4025       1.4211
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            4.6402       4.6873       4.6577       3.6413
  SOUTH KOREA      WON           854.07       841.92       830.56       787.13
  SPAIN            PESETA        134.79       130.69       127.28       123.38
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          57.278       56.730       56.987       53.874
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.0692       6.8283       6.6269       6.7405
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.3913       1.3290       1.2752       1.1818
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         27.477       27.516       27.522       27.406
  THAILAND         BAHT           25.726       25.600       25.459       25.298
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6585       1.6639       1.6623       1.5288

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         91.01        88.71        86.97        86.23
 *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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