FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                             August 31, 1998



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

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

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.5888       0.6180       0.6046       0.7404
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      12.574       12.650       12.615       12.946
  BELGIUM          FRANC          36.848       37.074       36.981       38.011
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.5346       1.4869       1.4655       1.3905
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3100       8.3100       8.3100       8.3187
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.8067       6.8499       6.8294       7.0109
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.1035       1.0990       1.1016       1.0693
  FINLAND          MARKKA          5.4340       5.4653       5.4503       5.5046
  FRANCE           FRANC           5.9912       6.0280       6.0118       6.2010
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.7869       1.7976       1.7928       1.8400
  GREECE           DRACHMA       301.21       299.35       304.24       288.41
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7494       7.7483       7.7471       7.7436
  INDIA            RUPEE          42.843       42.612       42.367       36.008
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.4037       1.3988       1.4051       1.4534
  ITALY            LIRA         1763.01      1772.42      1766.32      1797.12
  JAPAN            YEN           144.68       140.79       140.33       117.93
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         4.2036       4.1591       4.0006       2.7589
  MEXICO           PESO            9.3712       8.8990       8.9200       7.7818
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         2.0148       2.0267       2.0208       2.0709
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5011       0.5185       0.5123       0.6421
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.7248       7.6246       7.5785       7.6224
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        182.99       183.93       183.58       186.50
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.7571       1.7085       1.6941       1.4977
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            6.3198       6.2285       5.3910       4.6856
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1314.29      1295.76      1397.77       898.71
  SPAIN            PESETA        151.72       152.58       152.18       155.51
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          66.642       65.908       65.150       59.189
  SWEDEN           KRONA           8.1282       7.9942       7.9174       7.9886
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4933       1.5136       1.4949       1.5128
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         34.730       34.387       34.553       28.824
  THAILAND         BAHT           41.720       41.300       42.332       32.399
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6342       1.6437       1.6504       1.6035

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR        101.80       101.38       100.90        99.96
 *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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