G.5(405)                                                         April 30, 1999



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN APRIL 1999 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       1999         1999         1999         1998
   COUNTRY           UNIT         April        March      February       April

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6420       0.6308       0.6399       0.6523
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING       N.A.         N.A.         N.A.        12.760
  BELGIUM          FRANC           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.        37.42
  BRAZIL           REAL            1.7025       1.9057       1.9261       1.1409
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.4881       1.5176       1.4977       1.4298
  CHINA, P.R.      YUAN            8.2792       8.2792       8.2755       8.3058
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.9475       6.8287       6.6379       6.9174
 *EMU MEMBERS      EURO            1.0701       1.0886       1.1203       N.A.
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.0927
  FINLAND          MARKKA          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         5.5053
  FRANCE           FRANC           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         6.0782
  GERMANY          D. MARK         N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.8132
  GREECE           DRACHMA       304.26       296.36       287.41       315.82
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7495       7.7493       7.7490       7.7497
  INDIA            RUPEE          42.80        42.52        42.53        39.70
 *IRELAND          POUND           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.3894
  ITALY            LIRA            N.A.         N.A.         N.A.      1791.24
  JAPAN            YEN           119.77       119.47       116.67       131.75
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.7376
  MEXICO           PESO            9.430        9.732       10.006        8.502
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         2.0422
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5427       0.5345       0.5435       0.5534
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.7750       7.8151       7.7240       7.5315
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.       185.81
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.7134       1.7292       1.7004       1.6007
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            6.1186       6.2136       6.1146       5.0459
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1209.96      1229.72      1188.84      1391.55
  SPAIN            PESETA          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.       153.99
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          69.588       69.570       69.069       62.903
  SWEDEN           KRONA           8.3293       8.2144       7.9532       7.8238
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4971       1.4660       1.4272       1.5051
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         32.965       33.165       32.564       33.015
  THAILAND         BAHT           37.631       37.557       37.137       39.654
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6089       1.6213       1.6276       1.6723
  VENEZUELA        BOLIVAR       587.79       580.06       577.32       531.26

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES    DOLLAR
1)BROAD            JAN97=100     117.15       117.80       116.37       114.13
2)MAJOR CURRENCY   MAR73=100      95.76        95.69        93.76        96.41
3)OITP             JAN97=100     129.24       131.03       130.83       120.53


 This release is available online at http://www.federalreserve.gov/release/.

 For more information on exchange rate indexes for the U.S. dollar, see "New Summary Measures
 of the Foreign Exchange Value of the Dollar," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 84 (October 1998),
 pp. 811-18 (http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/) and "Index of the Weighted-Average
 Exchange Value of the U.S. Dollar: Revision," Federal Reserve Bulletin, vol. 64 (August 1978),
 p. 700. Weights for broad index can be found at http://www.federalreserve.gov/; weights for
 the major currencies index and the other important trading partners (OITP) index are derived
 from the broad index weights.

 *  Value is U.S. dollars.
 1) A weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against the currencies
 of a broad group of major U.S. trading partners.
 2) A weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against a subset of
 the broad index currencies that circulate widely outside the country of issue.
 3) A weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against a subset of
 the broad index currencies that do not circulate widely outside the country of issue.

 For information about your subscription to this release or about receiving it in document form,
 please call publication services at Federal Reserve Board at (202) 452-3244.

 As of January 1, 1999, the euro is reported in place of the individual eure-area currencies.
 These currency rates can be derived from the euro rate by using the fixed conversion rates
 (in currencies per euro) given below:

        1  EUR  =  13.7603  AUSTRIAN SCHILLINGS
                =  40.3399  BELGIAN FRANCS
                =  5.94573  FINNISH MARKKAS
                =  6.55957  FRENCH FRANCS
                =  1.95583  GERMAN MARKS
                =  .787564  IRISH POUNDS
                =  1936.27  ITALIAN LIRE
                =  40.3399  LUXEMBOURG FRANCS
                =  2.20371  NETHERLANDS GUILDERS
                =  200.482  PORTUGUESE ESCUDOS
                =  166.386  SPANISH PESETAS