1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE December 31, 1996 G.5(405) FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES FOR THE MONTH ENDING DECEMBER 1996 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN DECEMBER 1996 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 1996 1996 1996 1995 COUNTRY UNIT December November October December *AUSTRALIA DOLLAR 0.7966 0.7968 0.7918 0.7405 AUSTRIA SCHILLING 10.923 10.640 10.748 10.142 BELGIUM FRANC 31.944 31.172 31.470 29.615 CANADA DOLLAR 1.3622 1.3381 1.3508 1.3693 CHINA,P.R. YUAN 8.3290 8.3294 8.3299 8.3350 DENMARK KRONE 5.9428 5.8053 5.8576 5.5791 *EURO COMMUNITY ECU 1.2425 1.2700 1.2537 1.2755 FINLAND MARKKA 4.6388 4.5512 4.5694 4.3361 FRANCE FRANC 5.2427 5.1156 5.1652 4.9565 GERMANY D. MARK 1.5524 1.5118 1.5277 1.4406 GREECE DRACHMA 245.70 238.38 239.76 238.06 HONG KONG DOLLAR 7.7355 7.7323 7.7322 7.7345 INDIA RUPEE 35.882 35.892 35.804 34.966 *IRELAND POUND 1.6593 1.6645 1.6083 1.5918 ITALY LIRA 1528.44 1513.66 1523.82 1593.88 JAPAN YEN 113.98 112.30 112.41 101.85 MALAYSIA RINGGIT 2.5251 2.5234 2.5074 2.5399 MEXICO PESO 7.8769 7.9119 7.7345 7.6870 NETHERLANDS GUILDER 1.7420 1.6958 1.7141 1.6127 *NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 0.7050 0.7098 0.7007 0.6500 NORWAY KRONE 6.4716 6.3554 6.4810 6.3579 PORTUGAL ESCUDO 156.54 152.83 154.28 151.03 SINGAPORE DOLLAR 1.3999 1.4025 1.4124 1.4148 SOUTH AFRICA RAND 4.6873 4.6577 4.5799 3.6632 SOUTH KOREA WON 841.92 830.56 828.24 771.31 SPAIN PESETA 130.69 127.28 128.60 122.53 SRI LANKA RUPEE 56.730 56.987 57.015 53.808 SWEDEN KRONA 6.8283 6.6269 6.6006 6.6393 SWITZERLAND FRANC 1.3290 1.2752 1.2586 1.1631 TAIWAN DOLLAR 27.516 27.522 27.532 27.315 THAILAND BAHT 25.600 25.459 25.474 25.164 *UNITED KINGDOM POUND 1.6639 1.6623 1.5863 1.5405 MEMO: **UNITED STATES DOLLAR 88.70 86.98 87.98 85.07 *VALUE IS U.S. DOLLARS **INDEX OF WEIGHTED AVERAGE EXCHANGE VALUE OF U.S. DOLLAR AGAINST CURRENCIES OF OTHER G-10 COUNTRIES. MARCH 1973 = 100. WEIGHTS ARE 1972-76 GLOBAL TRADE OF EACH OF THE 10 COUNTRIES. SERIES REVISED AS OF AUGUST 1978. FOR DESCRIPTION AND BACK DATA, SEE "INDEX OF THE WEIGHTED-AVERAGE EXCHANGE VALUE OF THE U.S. DOLLAR: REVISION" ON PAGE 700 OF THE AUGUST 1978 FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN. FOR INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR SUBSCRIPTION TO THIS RELEASE OR ABOUT RECEIVING IT IN DOCUMENT FORM, PLEASE CALL PUBLICATIONS SERVICES AT THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD AT (202) 452-3244.