G.5(405)                                                          March 1, 2000



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN FEBRUARY 2000 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       2000         2000         1999         1999
   COUNTRY           UNIT       February      January     December     February

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6278       0.6560       0.6410       0.6399
  BRAZIL           REAL            1.7765       1.8057       1.8442       1.9261
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.4512       1.4486       1.4722       1.4977
  CHINA, P.R.      YUAN            8.2781       8.2792       8.2794       8.2755
  DENMARK          KRONE           7.5725       7.3492       7.3597       6.6379
 *EMU MEMBERS      EURO            0.9834       1.0131       1.0110       1.1203
  GREECE           DRACHMA       338.87       326.86       326.19       287.41
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7816       7.7791       7.7728       7.7490
  INDIA            RUPEE          43.65        43.59        43.52        42.53
  JAPAN            YEN           109.39       105.30       102.58       116.67
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.8000
  MEXICO           PESO            9.427        9.494        9.427       10.006
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.4903       0.5127       0.5087       0.5435
  NORWAY           KRONE           8.2374       8.0241       8.0113       7.7240
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.7028       1.6757       1.6745       1.7004
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            6.3209       6.1309       6.1503       6.1146
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1129.75      1130.99      1136.80      1188.84
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          73.552       73.140       72.018       69.069
  SWEDEN           KRONA           8.6480       8.4918       8.4910       7.9532
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.6348       1.5903       1.5841       1.4272
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         30.806       30.890       31.625       32.564
  THAILAND         BAHT           37.759       37.380       38.227       37.137
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6000       1.6404       1.6132       1.6276
  VENEZUELA        BOLIVAR       659.44       652.81       644.28       577.32

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES    DOLLAR
1)BROAD            JAN97=100     117.44       115.95       116.09       116.84
2)MAJOR CURRENCY   MAR73=100      95.31        93.14        93.23        93.18
3)OITP             JAN97=100     129.11       129.14       129.34       131.31


 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 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