G.5(405) December 31, 1998
FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES
THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN DECEMBER 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)
| COUNTRY | MONETARY UNIT | 1998 December | 1998 November | 1998 October | 1997 December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *AUSTRALIA | DOLLAR | 0.6182 | 0.6349 | 0.6179 | 0.6619 |
| AUSTRIA | SCHILLING | 11.746 | 11.840 | 11.524 | 12.510 |
| BELGIUM | FRANC | 34.44 | 34.71 | 33.81 | 36.75 |
| BRAZIL | REAL | 1.2052 | 1.1932 | 1.1889 | 1.1136 |
| CANADA | DOLLAR | 1.5433 | 1.5404 | 1.5452 | 1.4271 |
| CHINA,P.R. | YUAN | 8.2780 | 8.2778 | 8.2778 | 8.3099 |
| DENMARK | KRONE | 6.3531 | 6.3960 | 6.2294 | 6.7752 |
| *EURO COMMUNITY | ECU | 1.1756 | 1.1681 | 1.2019 | 1.1119 |
| FINLAND | MARKKA | 5.0769 | 5.1163 | 4.9845 | 5.3789 |
| FRANCE | FRANC | 5.5981 | 5.6422 | 5.4925 | 5.9542 |
| GERMANY | D. MARK | 1.6698 | 1.6827 | 1.6381 | 1.7788 |
| GREECE | DRACHMA | 280.43 | 282.64 | 281.64 | 279.93 |
| HONG KONG | DOLLAR | 7.7471 | 7.7432 | 7.7483 | 7.7456 |
| INDIA | RUPEE | 42.59 | 42.43 | 42.39 | 39.40 |
| *IRELAND | POUND | 1.4876 | 1.4777 | 1.5221 | 1.4533 |
| ITALY | LIRA | 1653.23 | 1664.91 | 1620.96 | 1743.86 |
| JAPAN | YEN | 117.07 | 120.29 | 121.05 | 129.73 |
| MALAYSIA | RINGGIT | 3.8014 | 3.8000 | 3.8000 | 3.7907 |
| MEXICO | PESO | 9.907 | 9.968 | 10.159 | 8.127 |
| NETHERLANDS | GUILDER | 1.8816 | 1.8969 | 1.8479 | 2.0051 |
| *NEW ZEALAND | DOLLAR | 0.5223 | 0.5340 | 0.5213 | 0.5914 |
| NORWAY | KRONE | 7.6050 | 7.4562 | 7.4294 | 7.2630 |
| PORTUGAL | ESCUDO | 171.19 | 172.52 | 168.01 | 181.91 |
| SINGAPORE | DOLLAR | 1.6515 | 1.6378 | 1.6378 | 1.6518 |
| SOUTH AFRICA | RAND | 5.9030 | 5.6511 | 5.7991 | 4.8706 |
| SOUTH KOREA | WON | 1213.22 | 1294.01 | 1344.14 | 1494.04 |
| SPAIN | PESETA | ||||
| SRI LANKA | RUPEE | 68.117 | 67.578 | 66.345 | 61.591 |
| SWEDEN | KRONA | 8.0716 | 8.0140 | 7.8395 | 7.7977 |
| SWITZERLAND | FRANC | 1.3604 | 1.3852 | 1.3373 | 1.4393 |
TAIWAN DOLLAR 32.337 32.603 33.121 32.502
THAILAND BAHT 36.276 36.527 38.118 44.309
*UNITED KINGDOM POUND 1.6708 1.6611 1.6944 1.6597
VENEZUELA BOLIVAR 565.89 569.66 570.68 502.99
MEMO:
UNITED STATES DOLLAR
1)BROAD JAN97=100 114.56 115.34 115.46 112.60
2)MAJOR CURRENCY MAR73=100 93.40 94.23 93.46 95.26
3)OITP JAN97=100 126.80 127.31 129.02 118.69
4)G-10 MAR73=100 94.61 95.46 93.69 98.82
This release is available online at http://www.federalreserve.gov/release/.
For more information on exchange rate indexes for the U.S. dollar, see "New Summary Measures
of the Foreign Exchange Value of the Dollar," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 84 (October 1998),
pp. 811-18 (http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/) and "Index of the Weighted-Average
Exchange Value of the U.S. Dollar: Revision," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 64 (August 1978),
p. 700. Weights for broad index can be found at http://www.federalreserve.gov/; weights for
the major currencies index and the other important trading partners (OITP) index are derived
from the broad index weights.
* Value is U.S. dollars.
1) A weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against the currencies
of a broad group of major U.S. trading partners.
2) A weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against a subset of
the broad index currencies that circulate widely outside the country of issue.
3) A weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against a subset of
the broad index currencies that do not circulate widely outside the country of issue.
4) A weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against the currencies
of the other G-10 countries. We will discontinue publication of this series after December 1998.
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please call publication services at Federal Reserve Board at (202) 452-3244.