G.5(405)                                                       October 29, 1999



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN OCTOBER 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        October     September     August       October

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6509       0.6495       0.6446       0.6179
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING       N.A.         N.A.         N.A.        11.524
  BELGIUM          FRANC           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.        33.81
  BRAZIL           REAL            1.9688       1.8987       1.8859       1.1889
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.4776       1.4771       1.4932       1.5452
  CHINA, P.R.      YUAN            8.2775       8.2774       8.2772       8.2778
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.9450       7.0828       7.0144       6.2294
 *EMU MEMBERS      EURO            1.0706       1.0497       1.0605       N.A.
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.2019
  FINLAND          MARKKA          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         4.9845
  FRANCE           FRANC           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         5.4925
  GERMANY          D. MARK         N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.6381
  GREECE           DRACHMA       307.71       311.68       307.84       281.64
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7696       7.7665       7.7638       7.7483
  INDIA            RUPEE          43.55        43.60        43.50        42.39
 *IRELAND          POUND           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.5221
  ITALY            LIRA            N.A.         N.A.         N.A.      1620.96
  JAPAN            YEN           105.97       106.88       113.23       121.05
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.8000
  MEXICO           PESO            9.575        9.341        9.398       10.159
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.8479
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5142       0.5230       0.5259       0.5213
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.7402       7.8361       7.8036       7.4294
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.       168.01
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.6757       1.6965       1.6787       1.6378
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            6.1029       6.0563       6.1302       5.7991
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1205.29      1201.00      1198.31      1344.14
  SPAIN            PESETA          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.       139.23
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          71.747       71.942       71.868       66.345
  SWEDEN           KRONA           8.1492       8.2264       8.2589       7.8395
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4896       1.5262       1.5093       1.3373
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         31.828       31.848       32.076       33.121
  THAILAND         BAHT           39.416       40.060       38.060       38.118
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6572       1.6247       1.6058       1.6944
  VENEZUELA        BOLIVAR       630.75       625.41       615.95       570.68

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES    DOLLAR
1)BROAD            JAN97=100     115.23       115.76       116.46       115.46
2)MAJOR CURRENCY   MAR73=100      92.29        93.24        94.74        93.46
3)OITP             JAN97=100     130.58       130.19       129.26       129.02


 This release is available online at http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/G5.

 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/releases/
 H10/Weights; weights for the major currencies index and the other important trading partners
 (OITP) index are derived from the broad index weights.  The most recent annual revision to the
 trade weights has produced revised index values that will appear in the dollar indexes starting
 with the December 1, 1999, release.

 *  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