1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE August 31, 1998 G.5(405) FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES FOR THE MONTH ENDING AUGUST 1998 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN AUGUST 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 August July June August *AUSTRALIA DOLLAR 0.5888 0.6180 0.6046 0.7404 AUSTRIA SCHILLING 12.574 12.650 12.615 12.946 BELGIUM FRANC 36.848 37.074 36.981 38.011 CANADA DOLLAR 1.5346 1.4869 1.4655 1.3905 CHINA,P.R. YUAN 8.3100 8.3100 8.3100 8.3187 DENMARK KRONE 6.8067 6.8499 6.8294 7.0109 *EURO COMMUNITY ECU 1.1035 1.0990 1.1016 1.0693 FINLAND MARKKA 5.4340 5.4653 5.4503 5.5046 FRANCE FRANC 5.9912 6.0280 6.0118 6.2010 GERMANY D. MARK 1.7869 1.7976 1.7928 1.8400 GREECE DRACHMA 301.21 299.35 304.24 288.41 HONG KONG DOLLAR 7.7494 7.7483 7.7471 7.7436 INDIA RUPEE 42.843 42.612 42.367 36.008 *IRELAND POUND 1.4037 1.3988 1.4051 1.4534 ITALY LIRA 1763.01 1772.42 1766.32 1797.12 JAPAN YEN 144.68 140.79 140.33 117.93 MALAYSIA RINGGIT 4.2036 4.1591 4.0006 2.7589 MEXICO PESO 9.3712 8.8990 8.9200 7.7818 NETHERLANDS GUILDER 2.0148 2.0267 2.0208 2.0709 *NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 0.5011 0.5185 0.5123 0.6421 NORWAY KRONE 7.7248 7.6246 7.5785 7.6224 PORTUGAL ESCUDO 182.99 183.93 183.58 186.50 SINGAPORE DOLLAR 1.7571 1.7085 1.6941 1.4977 SOUTH AFRICA RAND 6.3198 6.2285 5.3910 4.6856 SOUTH KOREA WON 1314.29 1295.76 1397.77 898.71 SPAIN PESETA 151.72 152.58 152.18 155.51 SRI LANKA RUPEE 66.642 65.908 65.150 59.189 SWEDEN KRONA 8.1282 7.9942 7.9174 7.9886 SWITZERLAND FRANC 1.4933 1.5136 1.4949 1.5128 TAIWAN DOLLAR 34.730 34.387 34.553 28.824 THAILAND BAHT 41.720 41.300 42.332 32.399 *UNITED KINGDOM POUND 1.6342 1.6437 1.6504 1.6035 MEMO: **UNITED STATES DOLLAR 101.80 101.38 100.90 99.96 *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. FOR INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR SUBSCRIPTION TO THIS RELEASE OR ABOUT RECEIVING IT IN DOCUMENT FORM, PLEASE CALL PUBLICATIONS SERVICES AT THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD AT (202) 452-3244.