1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                              March 31, 1998



 G.5(405)                FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES FOR THE MONTH ENDING  MARCH 1998

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN MARCH 1998 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       1998         1998         1998         1997
    COUNTRY          UNIT         March      February      January       March

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6696       0.6744       0.6566       0.7875
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      12.851       12.735       12.765       11.931
  BELGIUM          FRANC          37.696       37.417       37.536       34.961
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.4168       1.4334       1.4409       1.3725
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3076       8.3072       8.3094       8.3258
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.9656       6.9089       6.9190       6.4628
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.0854       1.0893       1.0869       1.1458
  FINLAND          MARKKA          5.5461       5.4999       5.5006       5.0632
  FRANCE           FRANC           6.1253       6.0744       6.0832       5.7154
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.8271       1.8123       1.8165       1.6946
  GREECE           DRACHMA       306.05       286.70       287.24       266.86
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7457       7.7412       7.7425       7.7460
  INDIA            RUPEE          39.566       39.008       39.391       35.885
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.3673       1.3771       1.3819       1.5657
  ITALY            LIRA         1798.95      1788.28      1787.87      1691.21
  JAPAN            YEN           129.08       125.85       129.55       122.77
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.7442       3.8148       4.4093       2.4773
  MEXICO           PESO            8.5679       8.5021       8.2272       7.9562
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         2.0597       2.0432       2.0472       1.9071
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5726       0.5829       0.5793       0.6979
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.5830       7.5530       7.5007       6.7915
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        187.02       185.54       185.80       170.35
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.6186       1.6509       1.7477       1.4378
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            4.9745       4.9337       4.9417       4.4319
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1489.26      1628.42      1707.30       882.62
  SPAIN            PESETA        154.94       153.61       153.93       143.72
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          62.059       62.363       62.281       57.873
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.9670       8.0723       8.0193       7.6502
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4900       1.4631       1.4748       1.4634
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         32.517       32.948       34.117       27.551
  THAILAND         BAHT           41.348       45.987       52.983       25.959
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6619       1.6408       1.6350       1.6096

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR        100.47        99.93       100.52        95.60
 *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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