FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                            October 30, 1998



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

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

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6179       0.5889       0.5888       0.7197
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      11.524       11.955       12.574       12.360
  BELGIUM          FRANC          33.813       35.054       36.848       36.266
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.5452       1.5218       1.5346       1.3869
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.2778       8.3055       8.3100       8.3135
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.2294       6.4717       6.8067       6.6922
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.2019       1.1575       1.1035       1.1184
  FINLAND          MARKKA          4.9845       5.1734       5.4340       5.2674
  FRANCE           FRANC           5.4925       5.6969       5.9912       5.8954
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.6381       1.6990       1.7869       1.7575
  GREECE           DRACHMA       281.64       292.47       301.21       276.84
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7483       7.7480       7.7494       7.7373
  INDIA            RUPEE          42.394       42.579       42.843       36.302
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.5221       1.4724       1.4037       1.4692
  ITALY            LIRA         1620.96      1678.92      1763.01      1721.09
  JAPAN            YEN           121.05       134.48       144.68       121.06
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8000       3.8050       4.2036       3.2972
  MEXICO           PESO           10.1594      10.2192       9.3712       7.8708
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         1.8479       1.9169       2.0148       1.9800
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5213       0.5044       0.5011       0.6356
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.4294       7.5564       7.7248       7.0807
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        168.01       174.19       182.99       179.07
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.6378       1.7226       1.7571       1.5597
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            5.7991       6.0966       6.3198       4.7145
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1344.14      1375.54      1314.29       929.42
  SPAIN            PESETA        139.23       144.33       151.72       148.32
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          66.345       66.260       66.642       59.723
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.8395       7.8816       8.1282       7.5765
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.3373       1.4000       1.4933       1.4516
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         33.121       34.646       34.730       29.696
  THAILAND         BAHT           38.118       40.402       41.720       37.543
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6944       1.6823       1.6342       1.6330

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         93.69        97.17       101.80        97.07
 *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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