H.10(512)                                                               February 19, 1999



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 FOR THE WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 19, 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       Feb. 15      Feb. 16      Feb. 17      Feb. 18      Feb. 19

 *AUSTRALIA      DOLLAR                      0.6380       0.6336       0.6350       0.6375
  BRAZIL         REAL            H           1.9100       1.9300       1.9100       1.9400
  CANADA         DOLLAR                      1.5000       1.4995       1.4873       1.4905
  CHINA, P.R.    YUAN                        8.2787       8.2787       8.2787       8.2787
  DENMARK        KRONE           O           6.6425       6.6230       6.6250       6.7100
 *EMU MEMBERS    EURO                        1.1189       1.1230       1.1223       1.1075
  GREECE         DRACHMA                   287.68       286.40       286.78       290.60
  HONG KONG      DOLLAR          L           7.7482       7.7482       7.7488       7.7490
  INDIA          RUPEE                      42.51        42.50        42.51        42.47
  JAPAN          YEN                       118.08       119.03       119.82       121.00
  MALAYSIA       RINGGIT         I           3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.8000
  MEXICO         PESO                        9.923        9.884        9.885        9.935
 *NEW ZEALAND    DOLLAR                      0.5382       0.5373       0.5388       0.5412
  NORWAY         KRONE           D           7.7370       7.7500       7.7960       7.8330
  SINGAPORE      DOLLAR                      1.6965       1.6985       1.7018       1.7085
  SOUTH AFRICA   RAND                        6.1350       6.1600       6.1800       6.2600
  SOUTH KOREA    WON             A        1176.00      1176.00      1183.00      1206.00
  SRI LANKA      RUPEE                      69.000       69.200       69.220       69.310
  SWEDEN         KRONA                       7.9330       7.9300       7.9660       8.0200
  SWITZERLAND    FRANC           Y           1.4290       1.4247       1.4250       1.4462
  TAIWAN         DOLLAR                     32.380       32.400       32.400       32.500
  THAILAND       BAHT                       36.900       37.050       37.100       37.650
 *UNITED KINGDOM POUND                       1.6317       1.6338       1.6338       1.6255
  VENEZUELA      BOLIVAR                   578.00       578.00       577.61       577.75

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES   DOLLAR
1)BROAD          JAN97=100                 116.41       116.49       116.47       117.23
2)MAJOR CURRENCY MAR73=100                  94.11        94.20        94.14        94.88
3)OITP           JAN97=100                 130.29       130.34       130.40       131.01


 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.

 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 the January 11, 1999 release, the euro is reported in place of the individual euro-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  =  40.3399  BELGIAN FRANCS
                =  1.95583  GERMAN MARKS
                =  166.386  SPANISH PESETAS
                =  6.55957  FRENCH FRANCS
                =  .787564  IRISH POUNDS
                =  1936.27  ITALIAN LIRE
                =  40.3399  LUXEMBOURG FRANCS
                =  2.20371  DUTCH GUILDERS
                =  13.7603  AUSTRIAN SCHILLINGS
                =  200.482  PORTUGUESE ESCUDOS
                =  5.94573  FINNISH MARKKAS