G.5(405)                                                         March 30, 2001



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN MARCH 2001 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.


                                (Currency units per U.S. dollar except as noted)


                   MONETARY       2001         2001         2001         2000
   COUNTRY           UNIT         March      February      January       March

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.5031       0.5338       0.5552       0.6094
  BRAZIL           REAL            2.0955       2.0060       1.9561       1.7424
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.5587       1.5216       1.5032       1.4608
  CHINA, P.R.      YUAN            8.2775       8.2771       8.2776       8.2786
  DENMARK          KRONE           8.2229       8.1103       7.9629       7.7228
 *EMU MEMBERS      EURO            0.9083       0.9205       0.9376       0.9643
  GREECE           DRACHMA         N.A.         N.A.         N.A.       346.33
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7999       7.7999       7.7998       7.7848
  INDIA            RUPEE          46.65        46.56        46.61        43.64
  JAPAN            YEN           121.51       116.23       116.67       106.31
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.8000
  MEXICO           PESO            9.599        9.711        9.769        9.289
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.4182       0.4345       0.4442       0.4902
  NORWAY           KRONE           8.9859       8.9180       8.7817       8.4100
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.7732       1.7435       1.7380       1.7153
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            7.8980       7.8214       7.7786       6.4675
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1291.41      1252.85      1272.63      1116.39
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          85.730       87.136       85.833       73.810
  SWEDEN           KRONA          10.0516       9.7518       9.4910       8.6971
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.6908       1.6686       1.6305       1.6636
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         32.622       32.330       32.673       30.724
  THAILAND         BAHT           43.988       42.665       43.149       37.923
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.4445       1.4525       1.4775       1.5799
  VENEZUELA        BOLIVAR       706.06       703.36       700.02       666.82

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES    DOLLAR
1)BROAD            JAN97=100     125.91       123.77       123.14       117.24
2)MAJOR CURRENCY   MAR73=100     103.98       101.44       100.24        95.61
3)OITP             JAN97=100     135.56       134.52       135.01       128.15


 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/). Weights for the 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 (OITIP) index are derived from the broad index
 weights. The most recent annual revision to the trade weights and the dollar indexes took effect
 with the February 1, 2001, release of this report.

 *  U.S. dollars per currency unit.
 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.

 The euro is reported in place of the individual eure-area currencies. These currency rates
 can be derived from the dollar/euro rate by using the fixed conversion rates (in currencies
 per euro) given below:

        1 EURO  =  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
                =  340.750  GREEK DRACHMAS