1FEDERAL RESERVE STATISTICAL RELEASE October 30, 1998 G.5(405) FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES FOR THE MONTH ENDING OCTOBER 1998 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN OCTOBER 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 October September August October *AUSTRALIA DOLLAR 0.6179 0.5889 0.5888 0.7197 AUSTRIA SCHILLING 11.524 11.955 12.574 12.360 BELGIUM FRANC 33.813 35.054 36.848 36.266 CANADA DOLLAR 1.5452 1.5218 1.5346 1.3869 CHINA,P.R. YUAN 8.2778 8.3055 8.3100 8.3135 DENMARK KRONE 6.2294 6.4717 6.8067 6.6922 *EURO COMMUNITY ECU 1.2019 1.1575 1.1035 1.1184 FINLAND MARKKA 4.9845 5.1734 5.4340 5.2674 FRANCE FRANC 5.4925 5.6969 5.9912 5.8954 GERMANY D. MARK 1.6381 1.6990 1.7869 1.7575 GREECE DRACHMA 281.64 292.47 301.21 276.84 HONG KONG DOLLAR 7.7483 7.7480 7.7494 7.7373 INDIA RUPEE 42.394 42.579 42.843 36.302 *IRELAND POUND 1.5221 1.4724 1.4037 1.4692 ITALY LIRA 1620.96 1678.92 1763.01 1721.09 JAPAN YEN 121.05 134.48 144.68 121.06 MALAYSIA RINGGIT 3.8000 3.8050 4.2036 3.2972 MEXICO PESO 10.1594 10.2192 9.3712 7.8708 NETHERLANDS GUILDER 1.8479 1.9169 2.0148 1.9800 *NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 0.5213 0.5044 0.5011 0.6356 NORWAY KRONE 7.4294 7.5564 7.7248 7.0807 PORTUGAL ESCUDO 168.01 174.19 182.99 179.07 SINGAPORE DOLLAR 1.6378 1.7226 1.7571 1.5597 SOUTH AFRICA RAND 5.7991 6.0966 6.3198 4.7145 SOUTH KOREA WON 1344.14 1375.54 1314.29 929.42 SPAIN PESETA 139.23 144.33 151.72 148.32 SRI LANKA RUPEE 66.345 66.260 66.642 59.723 SWEDEN KRONA 7.8395 7.8816 8.1282 7.5765 SWITZERLAND FRANC 1.3373 1.4000 1.4933 1.4516 TAIWAN DOLLAR 33.121 34.646 34.730 29.696 THAILAND BAHT 38.118 40.402 41.720 37.543 *UNITED KINGDOM POUND 1.6944 1.6823 1.6342 1.6330 MEMO: **UNITED STATES DOLLAR 93.69 97.17 101.80 97.07 *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. FOR INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR SUBSCRIPTION TO THIS RELEASE OR ABOUT RECEIVING IT IN DOCUMENT FORM, PLEASE CALL PUBLICATIONS SERVICES AT THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD AT (202) 452-3244.