G.5(405)                                                      February 26, 1999



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN FEBRUARY 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         1999         1998         1998
   COUNTRY           UNIT       February      January     December     February

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6399       0.6320       0.6182       0.6744
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING       N.A.         N.A.        11.746       12.735
  BELGIUM          FRANC           N.A.         N.A.        34.44        37.42
  BRAZIL           REAL            1.9261       1.5120       1.2052       1.1273
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.4977       1.5194       1.5433       1.4334
  CHINA, P.R.      YUAN            8.2755       8.2789       8.2780       8.3072
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.6379       6.4194       6.3531       6.9089
 *EMU MEMBERS      EURO            1.1203       1.1591       N.A.         N.A.
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             N.A.         N.A.         1.1756       1.0893
  FINLAND          MARKKA          N.A.         N.A.         5.0769       5.4999
  FRANCE           FRANC           N.A.         N.A.         5.5981       6.0744
  GERMANY          D. MARK         N.A.         N.A.         1.6698       1.8123
  GREECE           DRACHMA       287.41       278.91       280.43       286.70
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7490       7.7486       7.7471       7.7412
  INDIA            RUPEE          42.53        42.55        42.59        39.01
 *IRELAND          POUND           N.A.         N.A.         1.4876       1.3771
  ITALY            LIRA            N.A.         N.A.      1653.23      1788.28
  JAPAN            YEN           116.67       113.29       117.07       125.85
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8000       3.8000       3.8014       3.8148
  MEXICO           PESO           10.006       10.128        9.907        8.502
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         N.A.         N.A.         1.8816       2.0432
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5435       0.5388       0.5223       0.5829
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.7240       7.4532       7.6050       7.5530
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO          N.A.         N.A.       171.19       185.54
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.7004       1.6791       1.6515       1.6509
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            6.1146       5.9931       5.9030       4.9337
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1188.84      1175.11      1213.22      1628.42
  SPAIN            PESETA          N.A.         N.A.       142.08       153.61
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          69.069       68.629       68.117       62.363
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.9532       7.8188       8.0716       8.0723
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4272       1.3856       1.3604       1.4631
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         32.564       32.300       32.337       32.948
  THAILAND         BAHT           37.137       36.622       36.276       45.987
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6276       1.6498       1.6708       1.6408
  VENEZUELA        BOLIVAR       577.32       569.80       565.89       515.42

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES    DOLLAR
1)BROAD            JAN97=100     116.37       114.68       114.56       114.69
2)MAJOR CURRENCY   MAR73=100      93.76        92.37        93.40        95.39
3)OITP             JAN97=100     130.83       128.98       126.80       123.62


 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