G.5(405)                                                       February 2, 2000



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN JANUARY 2000 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       2000         1999         1999         1999
   COUNTRY           UNIT        January     December     November      January

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6560       0.6410       0.6388       0.6320
  BRAZIL           REAL            1.8057       1.8442       1.9314       1.5120
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.4486       1.4722       1.4674       1.5194
  CHINA, P.R.      YUAN            8.2792       8.2794       8.2782       8.2789
  DENMARK          KRONE           7.3492       7.3597       7.2019       6.4194
 *EMU MEMBERS      EURO            1.0131       1.0110       1.0328       1.1591
  GREECE           DRACHMA       326.86       326.19       318.24       278.91
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7791       7.7728       7.7718       7.7486
  INDIA            RUPEE          43.59        43.52        43.46        42.55
  JAPAN            YEN           105.30       102.58       104.65       113.29
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.8000
  MEXICO           PESO            9.494        9.427        9.416       10.128
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5127       0.5087       0.5122       0.5388
  NORWAY           KRONE           8.0241       8.0113       7.9367       7.4532
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.6757       1.6745       1.6699       1.6791
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            6.1309       6.1503       6.1424       5.9931
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1130.99      1136.80      1176.98      1175.11
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          73.140       72.018       72.040       68.629
  SWEDEN           KRONA           8.4918       8.4910       8.3586       7.8188
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.5903       1.5841       1.5543       1.3856
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         30.890       31.625       31.794       32.300
  THAILAND         BAHT           37.380       38.227       38.749       36.622
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6404       1.6132       1.6205       1.6498
  VENEZUELA        BOLIVAR       652.81       644.28       634.80       569.80

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES    DOLLAR
1)BROAD            JAN97=100     115.95       116.09       116.08       115.16
2)MAJOR CURRENCY   MAR73=100      93.14        93.23        92.87        91.77
3)OITP             JAN97=100     129.14       129.34       129.93       129.55


 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