H.10(512) November 20, 1998 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES FOR THE WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 20, 1998 The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is advised that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has certified for customs purposes the following noon buying rates in New York City for cable transfers payable in foreign currencies: (RATES IN CURRENCY UNITS PER DOLLAR) MONETARY COUNTRY UNIT Nov. 16 Nov. 17 Nov. 18 Nov. 19 Nov. 20 *AUSTRALIA DOLLAR 0.6385 0.6343 0.6457 0.6437 0.6436 AUSTRIA SCHILLING 11.737 11.745 11.748 11.849 11.886 BELGIUM FRANC 34.41 34.43 34.45 34.73 34.86 BRAZIL REAL 1.1904 1.1906 1.1915 1.1925 1.1950 CANADA DOLLAR 1.5550 1.5487 1.5557 1.5500 1.5452 CHINA,P.R. YUAN 8.2778 8.2778 8.2779 8.2779 8.2777 DENMARK KRONE 6.3380 6.3470 6.3500 6.3995 6.4230 *EURO COMMUNITY ECU 1.1800 1.1782 1.1778 1.1683 1.1635 FINLAND MARKKA 5.0720 5.0770 5.0780 5.1175 5.1360 FRANCE FRANC 5.5940 5.5970 5.5997 5.6460 5.6615 GERMANY D. MARK 1.6670 1.6695 1.6700 1.6845 1.6892 GREECE DRACHMA 280.85 280.49 280.60 282.10 283.25 HONG KONG DOLLAR 7.7437 7.7435 7.7445 7.7440 7.7425 INDIA RUPEE 42.41 42.50 42.50 42.50 42.45 *IRELAND POUND 1.4900 1.4890 1.4883 1.4755 1.4720 ITALY LIRA 1651.00 1652.00 1653.30 1666.60 1673.00 JAPAN YEN 119.70 121.30 121.44 119.65 120.32 MALAYSIA RINGGIT 3.8002 3.8000 3.8000 3.8000 3.7998 MEXICO PESO 9.968 9.945 9.940 9.930 9.900 NETHERLANDS GUILDER 1.8808 1.8820 1.8833 1.8975 1.9045 *NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 0.5385 0.5345 0.5390 0.5412 0.5370 NORWAY KRONE 7.4480 7.4250 7.4415 7.4800 7.4680 PORTUGAL ESCUDO 171.05 171.22 171.30 172.60 173.23 SINGAPORE DOLLAR 1.6310 1.6335 1.6315 1.6245 1.6290 SOUTH AFRICA RAND 5.6660 5.6890 5.6750 5.6375 5.6200 SOUTH KOREA WON 1317.00 1300.00 1300.00 1292.00 1268.00 SPAIN PESETA 141.850 141.930 142.000 143.100 143.680 SRI LANKA RUPEE 67.590 67.600 67.300 67.630 68.000 SWEDEN KRONA 8.0750 8.0530 8.0430 8.0978 8.0730 SWITZERLAND FRANC 1.3735 1.3740 1.3747 1.3870 1.3912 TAIWAN DOLLAR 32.600 32.550 32.650 32.600 32.650 THAILAND BAHT 36.580 36.540 36.250 36.300 36.200 *UNITED KINGDOM POUND 1.6755 1.6775 1.6720 1.6677 1.6542 VENEZUELA BOLIVAR 569.00 569.25 569.30 569.50 570.25 MEMO: UNITED STATES DOLLAR 1)BROAD JAN97=100 115.32 115.38 115.45 115.24 115.19 2)MAJOR CURRENCY MAR73=100 94.05 94.29 94.44 94.26 94.46 3)OITP JAN97=100 127.57 127.32 127.22 127.00 126.53 4)G-10 MAR73=100 94.90 95.06 95.18 95.49 95.80 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. 4) A weighted average of the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar against the currencies of the other G-10 countries. We will discontinue publication of this series after December 1998. 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.