1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                             October 1, 1997



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

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN SEPTEMBER 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       September     August        July       September

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.7231       0.7404       0.7420       0.7928
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      12.568       12.946       12.620       10.610
  BELGIUM          FRANC          36.876       38.011       37.040       31.056
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.3872       1.3905       1.3775       1.3694
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3171       8.3187       8.3162       8.3341
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.8001       7.0109       6.8317       5.8057
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.0981       1.0693       1.0998       1.2576
  FINLAND          MARKKA          5.3455       5.5046       5.3164       4.5421
  FRANCE           FRANC           6.0031       6.2010       6.0511       5.1307
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.7862       1.8400       1.7939       1.5080
  GREECE           DRACHMA       281.69       288.41       281.43       239.67
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7440       7.7436       7.7454       7.7328
  INDIA            RUPEE          36.476       36.008       35.747       35.870
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.4806       1.4534       1.4945       1.6096
  ITALY            LIRA         1743.22      1797.12      1745.91      1520.48
  JAPAN            YEN           120.89       117.93       115.38       109.93
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.0254       2.7589       2.5815       2.5009
  MEXICO           PESO            7.7809       7.7818       7.8679       7.5441
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         2.0116       2.0709       2.0201       1.6905
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.6360       0.6421       0.6610       0.6964
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.3008       7.6224       7.4545       6.4613
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        181.49       186.50       181.20       153.99
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.5164       1.4977       1.4521       1.4086
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            4.6890       4.6856       4.5611       4.5039
  SOUTH KOREA      WON           912.50       898.71       893.09       822.40
  SPAIN            PESETA        150.75       155.51       151.33       127.11
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          59.713       59.189       58.732       56.050
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.6887       7.9886       7.8188       6.6427
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4702       1.5128       1.4824       1.2343
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         28.731       28.824       28.032       27.500
  THAILAND         BAHT           35.256       32.399       30.274       25.407
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6013       1.6035       1.6694       1.5593

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         98.29        99.96        97.48        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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