1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                              April 30, 1997



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

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN APRIL 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         1997         1996
    COUNTRY          UNIT         April        March      February       April

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.7787       0.7875       0.7677       0.7857
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      12.050       11.931       11.785       10.580
  BELGIUM          FRANC          35.328       34.961       34.556       30.902
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.3942       1.3725       1.3556       1.3592
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3257       8.3258       8.3227       8.3515
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.5226       6.4628       6.3867       5.8050
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.1396       1.1458       1.1591       1.2432
  FINLAND          MARKKA          5.1375       5.0632       4.9792       4.7288
  FRANCE           FRANC           5.7672       5.7154       5.6536       5.1049
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.7119       1.6946       1.6747       1.5044
  GREECE           DRACHMA       270.58       266.86       262.42       242.00
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7483       7.7460       7.7474       7.7345
  INDIA            RUPEE          35.828       35.885       35.891       34.320
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.5505       1.5657       1.5860       1.5651
  ITALY            LIRA         1694.52      1691.21      1655.00      1565.60
  JAPAN            YEN           125.64       122.77       122.96       107.20
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         2.5028       2.4773       2.4866       2.5113
  MEXICO           PESO            7.9013       7.9562       7.8023       7.4694
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         1.9256       1.9071       1.8812       1.6819
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.6922       0.6979       0.6908       0.6824
  NORWAY           KRONE           6.9932       6.7915       6.6323       6.4901
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        171.77       170.35       168.24       154.51
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.4417       1.4378       1.4193       1.4085
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            4.4417       4.4319       4.4557       4.2130
  SOUTH KOREA      WON           895.57       882.62       868.39       780.42
  SPAIN            PESETA        144.48       143.72       141.85       125.49
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          58.825       57.873       57.772       54.163
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.6942       7.6502       7.4069       6.7141
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4618       1.4634       1.4541       1.2180
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         27.629       27.551       27.554       27.188
  THAILAND         BAHT           26.064       25.959       25.957       25.290
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6293       1.6096       1.6256       1.5160

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         96.39        95.60        94.52        87.46
 *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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