G.5(405)                                                          July 30, 1999



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN JULY 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         July         June          May         July

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6562       0.6563       0.6628       0.6180
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING       N.A.         N.A.         N.A.        12.650
  BELGIUM          FRANC           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.        37.07
  BRAZIL           REAL            1.8023       1.7669       1.6853       1.1614
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.4890       1.4695       1.4611       1.4869
  CHINA, P.R.      YUAN            8.2776       8.2780       8.2785       8.3100
  DENMARK          KRONE           7.1792       7.1643       6.9925       6.8499
 *EMU MEMBERS      EURO            1.0370       1.0377       1.0630       N.A.
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.0990
  FINLAND          MARKKA          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         5.4653
  FRANCE           FRANC           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         6.0280
  GERMANY          D. MARK         N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.7976
  GREECE           DRACHMA       313.52       312.49       305.96       299.35
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7603       7.7575       7.7531       7.7483
  INDIA            RUPEE          43.36        43.21        42.86        42.61
 *IRELAND          POUND           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.3988
  ITALY            LIRA            N.A.         N.A.         N.A.      1772.42
  JAPAN            YEN           119.33       120.72       122.00       140.79
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       4.1591
  MEXICO           PESO            9.370        9.515        9.395        8.899
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         2.0267
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5261       0.5325       0.5530       0.5185
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.9029       7.8749       7.7496       7.6246
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.       183.93
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.6958       1.7107       1.7122       1.7085
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            6.1182       6.0880       6.1809       6.2285
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1189.10      1168.91      1197.92      1295.76
  SPAIN            PESETA          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.       152.58
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          71.912       71.211       70.581       65.908
  SWEDEN           KRONA           8.4431       8.5065       8.4432       7.9942
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.5474       1.5374       1.5078       1.5136
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         32.338       32.525       32.791       34.387
  THAILAND         BAHT           37.143       36.925       37.051       41.300
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.5751       1.5950       1.6154       1.6437
  VENEZUELA        BOLIVAR       611.17       603.29       596.48       558.47

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES    DOLLAR
1)BROAD            JAN97=100     117.48       117.45       116.91       118.17
2)MAJOR CURRENCY   MAR73=100      96.78        96.56        95.79        99.31
3)OITP             JAN97=100     128.26       128.56       128.55       125.64


 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