H.10(512)                                                               December 31, 1998



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 FOR THE WEEK ENDING JANUARY 1, 1999

 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       Dec. 28      Dec. 29      Dec. 30      Dec. 31      Jan. 1

 *AUSTRALIA      DOLLAR         0.6070       0.6114       0.6129       0.6123
  AUSTRIA        SCHILLING     11.822       11.747       11.802       11.720
  BELGIUM        FRANC         34.63        34.44        34.53        34.36
  BRAZIL         REAL           1.2080       1.2080       1.2082       1.2085
  CANADA         DOLLAR         1.5525       1.5520       1.5492       1.5375
  CHINA,P.R.     YUAN           8.2782       8.2786       8.2787       8.2789
  DENMARK        KRONE          6.3935       6.3580       6.3795       6.3625
 *EURO COMMUNITY ECU            1.1698       1.1753       1.1682       1.1739
  FINLAND        MARKKA         5.1085       5.0765       5.0910       5.0645
  FRANCE         FRANC          5.6310       5.5990       5.6155       5.5870
  GERMANY        D. MARK        1.6793       1.6707       1.6765       1.6670        H
  GREECE         DRACHMA      282.25       280.86       283.10       279.90
  HONG KONG      DOLLAR         7.7465       7.7485       7.7480       7.7476
  INDIA          RUPEE         42.58        42.60        42.58        42.52          O
 *IRELAND        POUND          1.4790       1.4865       1.4810       1.4905
  ITALY          LIRA        1663.00      1654.00      1659.80      1654.00
  JAPAN          YEN          115.88       115.42       114.88       113.08          L
  MALAYSIA       RINGGIT        3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.8000
  MEXICO         PESO           9.845        9.860        9.940        9.901
  NETHERLANDS    GUILDER        1.8930       1.8820       1.8892       1.8770        I
 *NEW ZEALAND    DOLLAR         0.5200       0.5243       0.5262       0.5270
  NORWAY         KRONE          7.6550       7.6010       7.5980       7.5800
  PORTUGAL       ESCUDO       172.30       171.29       171.86       170.65          D
  SINGAPORE      DOLLAR         1.6570       1.6565       1.6575       1.6510
  SOUTH AFRICA   RAND           5.8825       5.8800       5.8700       5.8950
  SOUTH KOREA    WON         1210.30      1210.00      1203.00      1206.00          A
  SPAIN          PESETA       142.950      142.060      142.630      142.150
  SRI LANKA      RUPEE         68.000       68.390       68.450       68.460
  SWEDEN         KRONA          8.1350       8.0860       8.1170       8.1030        Y
  SWITZERLAND    FRANC          1.3720       1.3630       1.3805       1.3735
  TAIWAN         DOLLAR        32.310       32.310       32.280       32.270
  THAILAND       BAHT          36.950       37.150       36.800       36.500
 *UNITED KINGDOM POUND          1.6745       1.6836       1.6665       1.6628
  VENEZUELA      BOLIVAR      564.25       564.90       565.00       565.00

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES   DOLLAR
1)BROAD          JAN97=100    114.72       114.50       114.59       113.97
2)MAJOR CURRENCY MAR73=100     93.55        93.22        93.26        92.53
3)OITP           JAN97=100    126.93       126.97       127.13       126.85
4)G-10           MAR73=100     94.88        94.42        94.70        94.14

 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.

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 please call publication services at Federal Reserve Board at (202) 452-3244.