FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                            November 3, 1997



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

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

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.7197       0.7231       0.7404       0.7918
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      12.360       12.568       12.946       10.748
  BELGIUM          FRANC          36.266       36.876       38.011       31.470
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.3869       1.3872       1.3905       1.3508
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3135       8.3171       8.3187       8.3299
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.6922       6.8001       7.0109       5.8576
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.1184       1.0981       1.0693       1.2537
  FINLAND          MARKKA          5.2674       5.3455       5.5046       4.5694
  FRANCE           FRANC           5.8954       6.0031       6.2010       5.1652
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.7575       1.7862       1.8400       1.5277
  GREECE           DRACHMA       276.84       281.69       288.41       239.76
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7373       7.7440       7.7436       7.7322
  INDIA            RUPEE          36.302       36.476       36.008       35.804
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.4692       1.4806       1.4534       1.6083
  ITALY            LIRA         1721.09      1743.22      1797.12      1523.82
  JAPAN            YEN           121.06       120.89       117.93       112.41
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.2972       3.0254       2.7589       2.5074
  MEXICO           PESO            7.8708       7.7809       7.7818       7.7345
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         1.9800       2.0116       2.0709       1.7141
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.6356       0.6360       0.6421       0.7007
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.0807       7.3008       7.6224       6.4810
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        179.07       181.49       186.50       154.28
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.5597       1.5164       1.4977       1.4124
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            4.7145       4.6890       4.6856       4.5799
  SOUTH KOREA      WON           929.42       912.50       898.71       828.24
  SPAIN            PESETA        148.32       150.75       155.51       128.60
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          59.723       59.713       59.189       57.015
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.5765       7.6887       7.9886       6.6006
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4516       1.4702       1.5128       1.2586
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         29.696       28.731       28.824       27.532
  THAILAND         BAHT           37.543       35.256       32.399       25.474
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6330       1.6013       1.6035       1.5863

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         97.07        98.29        99.96        87.98
 *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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