1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                              March 31, 1997



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

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN MARCH 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         1997         1997         1996
    COUNTRY          UNIT         March      February      January       March

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.7875       0.7677       0.7776       0.7714
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      11.931       11.785       11.289       10.391
  BELGIUM          FRANC          34.961       34.556       33.087       30.371
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.3725       1.3556       1.3494       1.3656
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3258       8.3227       8.3260       8.3495
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.4628       6.3867       6.1199       5.7074
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.1458       1.1591       1.2096       1.2538
  FINLAND          MARKKA          5.0632       4.9792       4.7766       4.6066
  FRANCE           FRANC           5.7154       5.6536       5.4145       5.0583
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.6946       1.6747       1.6047       1.4776
  GREECE           DRACHMA       266.86       262.42       251.54       241.54
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7460       7.7474       7.7397       7.7325
  INDIA            RUPEE          35.885       35.891       35.904       34.485
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.5657       1.5860       1.6311       1.5721
  ITALY            LIRA         1691.21      1655.00      1567.91      1562.43
  JAPAN            YEN           122.77       122.96       117.91       105.94
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         2.4773       2.4866       2.4900       2.5417
  MEXICO           PESO            7.9562       7.8023       7.8289       7.5682
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         1.9071       1.8812       1.8023       1.6540
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.6979       0.6908       0.7009       0.6808
  NORWAY           KRONE           6.7915       6.6323       6.4589       6.4277
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        170.35       168.24       160.53       152.93
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.4378       1.4193       1.4061       1.4095
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            4.4319       4.4557       4.6402       3.9293
  SOUTH KOREA      WON           882.62       868.39       854.07       781.31
  SPAIN            PESETA        143.72       141.85       134.79       124.39
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          57.873       57.772       57.278       53.748
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.6502       7.4069       7.0692       6.7318
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4634       1.4541       1.3913       1.1959
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         27.551       27.554       27.477       27.400
  THAILAND         BAHT           25.959       25.957       25.726       25.250
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6096       1.6256       1.6585       1.5271

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         95.60        94.52        91.01        86.57
 *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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