1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                           February 28, 1997



 G.5(405)             FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES FOR THE MONTH ENDING  FEBRUARY 1997

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN FEBRUARY 1997 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       1997         1997         1996         1996
    COUNTRY          UNIT       February      January     December     February

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.7677       0.7776       0.7966       0.7556
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      11.785       11.289       10.923       10.321
  BELGIUM          FRANC          34.556       33.087       31.992       30.165
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.3556       1.3494       1.3622       1.3752
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3227       8.3260       8.3290       8.3338
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.3867       6.1199       5.9428       5.6749
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.1591       1.2096       1.2425       1.2530
  FINLAND          MARKKA          4.9792       4.7766       4.6388       4.5532
  FRANCE           FRANC           5.6536       5.4145       5.2427       5.0440
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.6747       1.6047       1.5525       1.4669
  GREECE           DRACHMA       262.42       251.54       245.70       242.21
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7474       7.7397       7.7355       7.7323
  INDIA            RUPEE          35.891       35.904       35.882       36.595
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.5860       1.6311       1.6593       1.5810
  ITALY            LIRA         1655.00      1567.91      1528.44      1570.00
  JAPAN            YEN           122.96       117.91       113.98       105.79
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         2.4866       2.4900       2.5251       2.5487
  MEXICO           PESO            7.8023       7.8289       7.8769       7.5183
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         1.8812       1.8023       1.7420       1.6424
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.6908       0.7009       0.7050       0.6749
  NORWAY           KRONE           6.6323       6.4589       6.4716       6.4103
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        168.24       160.53       156.54       152.49
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.4193       1.4061       1.3999       1.4115
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            4.4557       4.6402       4.6873       3.7420
  SOUTH KOREA      WON           868.39       854.07       841.92       780.12
  SPAIN            PESETA        141.85       134.79       130.69       123.65
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          57.772       57.278       56.730       53.716
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.4069       7.0692       6.8283       6.8775
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4541       1.3913       1.3290       1.1967
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         27.554       27.477       27.516       27.485
  THAILAND         BAHT           25.957       25.726       25.600       25.250
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6256       1.6585       1.6639       1.5360

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         94.52        91.01        88.71        86.42
 *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.

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