FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE                          September 30, 1998



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

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

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.5889       0.5888       0.6180       0.7231
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      11.955       12.574       12.650       12.568
  BELGIUM          FRANC          35.054       36.848       37.074       36.876
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.5218       1.5346       1.4869       1.3872
  CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3055       8.3100       8.3100       8.3171
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.4717       6.8067       6.8499       6.8001
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.1575       1.1035       1.0990       1.0981
  FINLAND          MARKKA          5.1734       5.4340       5.4653       5.3455
  FRANCE           FRANC           5.6969       5.9912       6.0280       6.0031
  GERMANY          D. MARK         1.6990       1.7869       1.7976       1.7862
  GREECE           DRACHMA       292.47       301.21       299.35       281.69
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7480       7.7494       7.7483       7.7440
  INDIA            RUPEE          42.579       42.843       42.612       36.476
 *IRELAND          POUND           1.4724       1.4037       1.3988       1.4806
  ITALY            LIRA         1678.92      1763.01      1772.42      1743.22
  JAPAN            YEN           134.48       144.68       140.79       120.89
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8050       4.2036       4.1591       3.0254
  MEXICO           PESO           10.2192       9.3712       8.8990       7.7809
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         1.9169       2.0148       2.0267       2.0116
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5044       0.5011       0.5185       0.6360
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.5564       7.7248       7.6246       7.3008
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        174.19       182.99       183.93       181.49
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.7226       1.7571       1.7085       1.5164
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            6.0966       6.3198       6.2285       4.6890
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1375.54      1314.29      1295.76       912.50
  SPAIN            PESETA        144.33       151.72       152.58       150.75
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          66.260       66.642       65.908       59.713
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.8816       8.1282       7.9942       7.6887
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4000       1.4933       1.5136       1.4702
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         34.646       34.730       34.387       28.731
  THAILAND         BAHT           40.402       41.720       41.300       35.256
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6823       1.6342       1.6437       1.6013

  MEMO:
**UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         97.17       101.80       101.38        98.29
 *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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