FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                             January 5, 1998



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

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN DECEMBER 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       December     November      October     December

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6619       0.6953       0.7197       0.7966
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      12.510       12.181       12.360       10.923
  BELGIUM          FRANC          36.748       35.737       36.266       31.992
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.4271       1.4128       1.3869       1.3622
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3099       8.3109       8.3135       8.3290
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.7752       6.5937       6.6922       5.9428
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.1119       1.1419       1.1184       1.2425
  FINLAND          MARKKA          5.3789       5.2217       5.2674       4.6388
  FRANCE           FRANC           5.9542       5.8001       5.8954       5.2427
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.7788       1.7323       1.7575       1.5525
  GREECE           DRACHMA       279.93       271.87       276.84       245.70
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7456       7.7314       7.7373       7.7355
  INDIA            RUPEE          39.400       37.289       36.302       35.882
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.4533       1.5030       1.4692       1.6593
  ITALY            LIRA         1743.86      1697.08      1721.09      1528.44
  JAPAN            YEN           129.73       125.38       121.06       113.98
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.7907       3.3791       3.2972       2.5251
  MEXICO           PESO            8.1271       8.2716       7.8708       7.8769
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         2.0051       1.9524       1.9800       1.7420
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5914       0.6242       0.6356       0.7050
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.2630       7.0588       7.0807       6.4716
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        181.91       176.84       179.07       156.54
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.6518       1.5820       1.5597       1.3999
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            4.8706       4.8394       4.7145       4.6873
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1494.04      1035.22       929.42       841.92
  SPAIN            PESETA        150.46       146.30       148.32       130.69
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          61.591       60.132       59.723       56.730
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.7977       7.5589       7.5765       6.8283
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4393       1.4069       1.4516       1.3290
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         32.502       31.794       29.696       27.516
  THAILAND         BAHT           44.309       39.092       37.543       25.600
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6597       1.6889       1.6330       1.6639

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         98.82        96.37        97.07        88.71
 *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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