1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                                 May 1, 1998



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

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN APRIL 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         April        March      February       April

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6523       0.6696       0.6744       0.7787
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      12.760       12.852       12.735       12.050
  BELGIUM          FRANC          37.423       37.699       37.417       35.328
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.4298       1.4166       1.4334       1.3942
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3058       8.3076       8.3072       8.3257
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.9174       6.9661       6.9089       6.5226
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.0927       1.0853       1.0893       1.1396
  FINLAND          MARKKA          5.5053       5.5467       5.4999       5.1375
  FRANCE           FRANC           6.0782       6.1257       6.0744       5.7672
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.8132       1.8272       1.8123       1.7119
  GREECE           DRACHMA       315.82       306.05       286.70       270.58
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7497       7.7458       7.7412       7.7483
  INDIA            RUPEE          39.703       39.569       39.008       35.828
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.3894       1.3672       1.3771       1.5505
  ITALY            LIRA         1791.24      1799.07      1788.28      1694.52
  JAPAN            YEN           131.75       129.08       125.85       125.64
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.7376       3.7456       3.8148       2.5028
  MEXICO           PESO            8.5017       8.5681       8.5021       7.9059
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         2.0422       2.0598       2.0432       1.9256
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5534       0.5726       0.5829       0.6922
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.5315       7.5833       7.5530       6.9932
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        185.81       187.03       185.54       171.77
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.6007       1.6188       1.6509       1.4417
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            5.0459       4.9746       4.9337       4.4417
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1391.55      1489.36      1628.42       895.57
  SPAIN            PESETA        153.99       154.95       153.61       144.48
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          62.903       62.083       62.363       58.825
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.8238       7.9677       8.0723       7.6942
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.5051       1.4901       1.4631       1.4618
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         33.015       32.524       32.948       27.629
  THAILAND         BAHT           39.654       41.366       45.987       26.064
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6723       1.6619       1.6408       1.6293

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR        100.30       100.47        99.93        96.39
 *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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