1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                           September 2, 1997



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

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN AUGUST 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        August        July         June        August

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.7404       0.7420       0.7542       0.7830
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      12.946       12.620       12.158       10.435
  BELGIUM          FRANC          38.011       37.040       35.650       30.553
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.3905       1.3775       1.3843       1.3722
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3187       8.3162       8.3224       8.3379
  DENMARK          KRONE           7.0109       6.8317       6.5804       5.7327
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.0693       1.0998       1.1304       1.2685
  FINLAND          MARKKA          5.5046       5.3164       5.1794       4.4793
  FRANCE           FRANC           6.2010       6.0511       5.8293       5.0636
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.8400       1.7939       1.7277       1.4826
  GREECE           DRACHMA       288.41       281.43       273.83       237.00
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7436       7.7454       7.7445       7.7345
  INDIA            RUPEE          36.008       35.747       35.820       35.800
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.4534       1.4945       1.5060       1.6108
  ITALY            LIRA         1797.12      1745.91      1694.54      1516.62
  JAPAN            YEN           117.93       115.38       114.29       107.87
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         2.7589       2.5815       2.5167       2.4933
  MEXICO           PESO            7.7818       7.8679       7.9498       7.5143
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         2.0709       2.0201       1.9438       1.6633
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.6421       0.6610       0.6871       0.6886
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.6224       7.4545       7.2240       6.4153
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        186.50       181.20       174.56       152.27
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.4977       1.4521       1.4271       1.4124
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            4.6856       4.5611       4.5005       4.5289
  SOUTH KOREA      WON           898.71       893.09       891.40       817.52
  SPAIN            PESETA        155.51       151.33       145.98       125.72
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          59.189       58.732       58.531       55.603
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.9886       7.8188       7.7506       6.6211
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.5128       1.4824       1.4424       1.2029
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         28.824       28.032       27.903       27.496
  THAILAND         BAHT           32.399       30.274       24.534       25.289
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6035       1.6694       1.6449       1.5499

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         99.96        97.48        95.42        86.54
 *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.