G.5(405)                                                       January 31, 1999



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN JANUARY 1999 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       1999         1998         1998         1998
   COUNTRY           UNIT        January     December     November      January

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6320       0.6182       0.6349       0.6566
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING       N.A.        11.746       11.840       12.765
  BELGIUM          FRANC           N.A.        34.44        34.71        37.54
  BRAZIL           REAL            1.5120       1.2052       1.1932       1.1199
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.5194       1.5433       1.5404       1.4409
  CHINA, P.R.      YUAN            8.2789       8.2780       8.2778       8.3094
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.4194       6.3531       6.3960       6.9190
 *EMU MEMBERS      EURO            1.1591       N.A.         N.A.         N.A.
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             N.A.         1.1756       1.1681       1.0869
  FINLAND          MARKKA          N.A.         5.0769       5.1163       5.5006
  FRANCE           FRANC           N.A.         5.5981       5.6422       6.0832
  GERMANY          D. MARK         N.A.         1.6698       1.6827       1.8165
  GREECE           DRACHMA       278.91       280.43       282.64       287.24
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7486       7.7471       7.7432       7.7425
  INDIA            RUPEE          42.55        42.59        42.43        39.39
 *IRELAND          POUND           N.A.         1.4876       1.4777       1.3819
  ITALY            LIRA            N.A.      1653.23      1664.91      1787.87
  JAPAN            YEN           113.29       117.07       120.29       129.55
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8000       3.8014       3.8000       4.4093
  MEXICO           PESO           10.128        9.907        9.968        8.227
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         N.A.         1.8816       1.8969       2.0472
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5388       0.5223       0.5340       0.5793
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.4532       7.6050       7.4562       7.5007
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO          N.A.       171.19       172.52       185.80
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.6791       1.6515       1.6378       1.7477
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            5.9931       5.9030       5.6511       4.9417
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1175.11      1213.22      1294.01      1707.30
  SPAIN            PESETA          N.A.       142.08       143.05       153.93
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          68.629       68.117       67.578       62.281
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.8188       8.0716       8.0140       8.0193
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.3856       1.3604       1.3852       1.4748
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         32.300       32.337       32.603       34.117
  THAILAND         BAHT           36.622       36.276       36.527       52.983
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6498       1.6708       1.6611       1.6350
  VENEZUELA        BOLIVAR       569.80       565.89       569.66       507.68

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES    DOLLAR
1)BROAD            JAN97=100     114.66       114.56       115.34       116.29
2)MAJOR CURRENCY   MAR73=100      92.39        93.40        94.23        96.37
3)OITP             JAN97=100     128.89       126.80       127.31       125.98


 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.

 For information about your subscription to this release or about receiving it in document form,
 please call publication services at Federal Reserve Board at (202) 452-3244.

 As of January 1, 1999, the euro is reported in place of the individual eure-area currencies.
 These currency rates can be derived from the euro rate by using the fixed conversion rates
 (in currencies per euro) given below:

        1  EUR  =  13.7603  AUSTRIAN SCHILLINGS
                =  40.3399  BELGIAN FRANCS
                =  5.94573  FINNISH MARKKAS
                =  6.55957  FRENCH FRANCS
                =  1.95583  GERMAN MARKS
                =  .787564  IRISH POUNDS
                =  1936.27  ITALIAN LIRE
                =  40.3399  LUXEMBOURG FRANCS
                =  2.20371  NETHERLANDS GUILDERS
                =  200.482  PORTUGUESE ESCUDOS
                =  166.386  SPANISH PESETAS