G.5(405)                                                           May 28, 1999



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN MAY 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         1999         1998
   COUNTRY           UNIT          May         April        March         May

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6628       0.6420       0.6308       0.6312
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING       N.A.         N.A.         N.A.        12.491
  BELGIUM          FRANC           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.        36.62
  BRAZIL           REAL            1.6853       1.7025       1.9057       1.1475
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.4611       1.4881       1.5176       1.4452
  CHINA, P.R.      YUAN            8.2785       8.2792       8.2792       8.3084
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.9925       6.9475       6.8287       6.7662
 *EMU MEMBERS      EURO            1.0630       1.0701       1.0886       N.A.
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.1096
  FINLAND          MARKKA          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         5.3966
  FRANCE           FRANC           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         5.9528
  GERMANY          D. MARK         N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.7753
  GREECE           DRACHMA       305.96       304.26       296.36       307.22
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7531       7.7495       7.7493       7.7490
  INDIA            RUPEE          42.86        42.80        42.52        40.47
 *IRELAND          POUND           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.4174
  ITALY            LIRA            N.A.         N.A.         N.A.      1750.79
  JAPAN            YEN           122.00       119.77       119.47       134.90
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.8204
  MEXICO           PESO            9.395        9.430        9.732        8.585
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         2.0005
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5530       0.5427       0.5345       0.5388
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.7496       7.7750       7.8151       7.4539
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.       181.87
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.7122       1.7134       1.7292       1.6374
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            6.1809       6.1186       6.2136       5.0927
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1197.92      1209.96      1229.72      1399.05
  SPAIN            PESETA          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.       150.81
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          70.581       69.588       69.570       64.261
  SWEDEN           KRONA           8.4432       8.3293       8.2144       7.7026
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.5078       1.4971       1.4660       1.4790
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         32.791       32.965       33.165       33.466
  THAILAND         BAHT           37.051       37.631       37.557       39.198
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6154       1.6089       1.6213       1.6382
  VENEZUELA        BOLIVAR       596.48       587.79       580.06       537.26

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES    DOLLAR
1)BROAD            JAN97=100     116.91       117.15       117.80       115.16
2)MAJOR CURRENCY   MAR73=100      95.79        95.76        95.69        96.88
3)OITP             JAN97=100     128.55       129.24       131.03       122.28


 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