H.10(512) December 4, 1998 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES FOR THE WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 4, 1998 The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is advised that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has certified for customs purposes the following noon buying rates in New York City for cable transfers payable in foreign currencies: (RATES IN CURRENCY UNITS PER DOLLAR) MONETARY COUNTRY UNIT Nov. 30 Dec. 1 Dec. 2 Dec. 3 Dec. 4 *AUSTRALIA DOLLAR 0.6280 0.6305 0.6310 0.6245 0.6175 AUSTRIA SCHILLING 11.936 11.822 11.756 11.764 11.810 BELGIUM FRANC 34.99 34.67 34.47 34.50 34.64 BRAZIL REAL 1.2010 1.2016 1.2020 1.2024 1.2022 CANADA DOLLAR 1.5235 1.5330 1.5368 1.5338 1.5350 CHINA,P.R. YUAN 8.2782 8.2782 8.2780 8.2779 8.2777 DENMARK KRONE 6.4475 6.3925 6.3585 6.3610 6.3770 *EURO COMMUNITY ECU 1.1573 1.1675 1.1736 1.1732 1.1700 FINLAND MARKKA 5.1650 5.1095 5.0855 5.0870 5.1000 FRANCE FRANC 5.6890 5.6342 5.6044 5.6094 5.6265 GERMANY D. MARK 1.6966 1.6808 1.6720 1.6725 1.6794 GREECE DRACHMA 284.55 283.28 281.30 281.18 282.30 HONG KONG DOLLAR 7.7430 7.7455 7.7465 7.7465 7.7472 INDIA RUPEE 42.65 42.61 42.61 42.56 42.58 *IRELAND POUND 1.4640 1.4778 1.4864 1.4850 1.4800 ITALY LIRA 1679.25 1664.00 1654.75 1655.60 1661.30 JAPAN YEN 123.21 122.20 120.17 118.79 119.35 MALAYSIA RINGGIT 3.8000 3.8000 3.8000 3.8000 3.8000 MEXICO PESO 10.005 10.027 9.970 9.993 9.995 NETHERLANDS GUILDER 1.9124 1.8949 1.8840 1.8845 1.8912 *NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 0.5270 0.5245 0.5275 0.5232 0.5213 NORWAY KRONE 7.4850 7.4425 7.4325 7.4275 7.4475 PORTUGAL ESCUDO 173.92 172.41 171.50 171.48 172.09 SINGAPORE DOLLAR 1.6500 1.6455 1.6470 1.6460 1.6585 SOUTH AFRICA RAND 5.6950 5.6650 5.6575 5.7350 5.8950 SOUTH KOREA WON 1247.00 1246.00 1240.00 1230.00 1217.00 SPAIN PESETA 144.230 143.040 142.270 142.250 142.780 SRI LANKA RUPEE 67.950 67.940 68.000 68.000 68.100 SWEDEN KRONA 8.1350 8.1225 8.0650 8.0420 8.0900 SWITZERLAND FRANC 1.3963 1.3783 1.3700 1.3667 1.3710 TAIWAN DOLLAR 32.500 32.500 32.470 32.550 32.400 THAILAND BAHT 36.150 36.200 36.150 35.950 35.980 *UNITED KINGDOM POUND 1.6485 1.6540 1.6625 1.6645 1.6615 VENEZUELA BOLIVAR 572.85 573.70 574.25 575.15 575.70 MEMO: UNITED STATES DOLLAR 1)BROAD JAN97=100 115.65 115.40 114.98 114.79 115.05 2)MAJOR CURRENCY MAR73=100 94.85 94.50 93.95 93.64 93.93 3)OITP JAN97=100 126.98 126.99 126.88 126.96 127.10 4)G-10 MAR73=100 96.31 95.65 95.05 94.88 95.20 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. 4) A weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against the currencies of the other G-10 countries. We will discontinue publication of this series after December 1998. 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.