1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                                June 1, 1998



 G.5(405)                  FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES FOR THE MONTH ENDING  MAY 1998

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN MAY 1998 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       1998         1998         1998         1997
    COUNTRY          UNIT          May         April        March         May

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6312       0.6523       0.6696       0.7751
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      12.491       12.760       12.852       11.998
  BELGIUM          FRANC          36.624       37.423       37.699       35.188
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.4452       1.4298       1.4166       1.3804
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3084       8.3058       8.3076       8.3229
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.7662       6.9174       6.9661       6.4926
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.1096       1.0927       1.0853       1.1431
  FINLAND          MARKKA          5.3966       5.5053       5.5467       5.1444
  FRANCE           FRANC           5.9528       6.0782       6.1257       5.7482
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.7753       1.8132       1.8272       1.7048
  GREECE           DRACHMA       307.22       315.82       306.05       271.95
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7490       7.7497       7.7458       7.7431
  INDIA            RUPEE          40.469       39.703       39.569       35.825
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.4174       1.3894       1.3672       1.5111
  ITALY            LIRA         1750.79      1791.24      1799.07      1684.33
  JAPAN            YEN           134.90       131.75       129.08       119.19
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8204       3.7376       3.7456       2.5070
  MEXICO           PESO            8.5848       8.5017       8.5681       7.9037
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         2.0005       2.0422       2.0598       1.9173
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5388       0.5534       0.5726       0.6910
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.4539       7.5315       7.5833       7.0797
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        181.87       185.81       187.03       171.72
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.6374       1.6007       1.6188       1.4368
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            5.0927       5.0459       4.9746       4.4668
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1399.05      1391.55      1489.36       894.67
  SPAIN            PESETA        150.81       153.99       154.95       143.93
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          64.261       62.903       62.083       58.862
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.7026       7.8238       7.9677       7.6856
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4790       1.5051       1.4901       1.4331
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         33.466       33.015       32.524       27.791
  THAILAND         BAHT           39.198       39.654       41.366       25.750
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6382       1.6723       1.6619       1.6322

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         99.61       100.30       100.47        95.29
 *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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