G.5(405)                                                       October 29, 2004



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN OCTOBER 2004 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.


                                (Currency units per U.S. dollar except as noted)


                   MONETARY       2004         2004         2004         2003
   COUNTRY           UNIT        October     September     August       October

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.7337       0.7028       0.7111       0.6948
  BRAZIL           REAL            2.8520       2.8914       3.0018       2.8628
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.2469       1.2881       1.3127       1.3221
  CHINA, P.R.      YUAN            8.2765       8.2767       8.2768       8.2768
  DENMARK          KRONE           5.9486       6.0866       6.1007       6.3449
 *EMU MEMBERS      EURO            1.2507       1.2224       1.2191       1.1714
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7889       7.7995       7.7997       7.7427
  INDIA            RUPEE          45.74        46.05        46.32        45.40
  JAPAN            YEN           108.78       110.09       110.23       109.50
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.8000
  MEXICO           PESO           11.404       11.487       11.395       11.180
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.6846       0.6594       0.6561       0.6020
  NORWAY           KRONE           6.5809       6.8416       6.8369       7.0331
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.6767       1.6948       1.7145       1.7345
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            6.3815       6.5349       6.4667       6.9644
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1141.57      1148.72      1158.03      1169.34
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE         103.885      103.326      103.436       94.560
  SWEDEN           KRONA           7.2453       7.4356       7.5362       7.6957
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.2330       1.2629       1.2623       1.3222
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         33.775       33.893       34.023       33.875
  THAILAND         BAHT           41.294       41.474       41.521       39.760
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.8077       1.7937       1.8203       1.6792
  VENEZUELA        BOLIVAR      1918.08      1920.00      1920.00      1600.00

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES    DOLLAR
1)BROAD            JAN97=100     113.15       114.81       115.26       116.21
2)MAJOR CURRENCY   MAR73=100      84.32        86.25        86.72        88.82
3)OITP             JAN97=100     144.50       145.17       145.47       143.83


 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/). Weights for the 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 and the dollar indexes took effect
 with the December 31, 2003, release of this report.  The source for exchange rates not listed in the
 table above but used in the calculation of the broad and OITP indexes is Reuters Limited.

 *  U.S. dollars per currency unit.
 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.

 The euro is reported in place of the individual eure-area currencies. These currency rates
 can be derived from the dollar/euro rate by using the fixed conversion rates (in currencies
 per euro) given below:

        1 EURO  =  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
                =  340.750  GREEK DRACHMAS 

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