G.5(405)                                                        January 3, 2000



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN DECEMBER 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       December     November      October     December

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6410       0.6388       0.6509       0.6182
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING       N.A.         N.A.         N.A.        11.746
  BELGIUM          FRANC           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.        34.44
  BRAZIL           REAL            1.8442       1.9314       1.9688       1.2052
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.4722       1.4674       1.4776       1.5433
  CHINA, P.R.      YUAN            8.2794       8.2782       8.2775       8.2780
  DENMARK          KRONE           7.3597       7.2019       6.9450       6.3531
 *EMU MEMBERS      EURO            1.0110       1.0328       1.0706       N.A.
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.1756
  FINLAND          MARKKA          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         5.0769
  FRANCE           FRANC           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         5.5981
  GERMANY          D. MARK         N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.6698
  GREECE           DRACHMA       326.19       318.24       307.71       280.43
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7728       7.7718       7.7696       7.7471
  INDIA            RUPEE          43.52        43.46        43.55        42.59
 *IRELAND          POUND           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.4876
  ITALY            LIRA            N.A.         N.A.         N.A.      1653.23
  JAPAN            YEN           102.58       104.65       105.97       117.07
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.8014
  MEXICO           PESO            9.427        9.416        9.575        9.907
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.8816
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5087       0.5122       0.5142       0.5223
  NORWAY           KRONE           8.0113       7.9367       7.7402       7.6050
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.       171.19
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.6745       1.6699       1.6757       1.6515
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            6.1503       6.1424       6.1029       5.9030
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1136.80      1176.98      1205.29      1213.22
  SPAIN            PESETA          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.       142.08
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          72.018       72.040       71.747       68.117
  SWEDEN           KRONA           8.4910       8.3586       8.1492       8.0716
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.5841       1.5543       1.4896       1.3604
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         31.625       31.794       31.828       32.337
  THAILAND         BAHT           38.227       38.749       39.416       36.276
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6132       1.6205       1.6572       1.6708
  VENEZUELA        BOLIVAR       644.28       634.80       630.75       565.89

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES    DOLLAR
1)BROAD            JAN97=100     116.09       116.08       115.88       114.98
2)MAJOR CURRENCY   MAR73=100      93.23        92.87        91.94        92.73
3)OITP             JAN97=100     129.34       129.93       131.06       127.42


 This release is available online at http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/G5.

 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/releases/
 H10/Weights; weights for the major currencies index and the other important trading partners
 (OITP) index are derived from the broad index weights.  The most recent annual revision to the
 trade weights has produced revised index values that appear in the dollar indexes starting
 with the December 1, 1999, release.

 *  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