G.5A(405)                                                       January 2, 2009





               THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN 2008 TOGETHER
               WITH COMPARABLE FIGURES FOR OTHER YEARS. 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
                  COUNTRY          UNIT         2008         2007         2006         2005

               *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.8537       0.8391       0.7535       0.7627
                BRAZIL           REAL            1.8327       1.9461       2.1738       2.4352
                CANADA           DOLLAR          1.0660       1.0734       1.1340       1.2115
                CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            6.9477       7.6058       7.9723       8.1936
                DENMARK          KRONE           5.0885       5.4413       5.9422       5.9953
               *EMU MEMBERS      EURO            1.4726       1.3711       1.2563       1.2449
                HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7862       7.8016       7.7681       7.7775
                INDIA            RUPEE          43.39        41.18        45.19        44.00
                JAPAN            YEN           103.39       117.76       116.31       110.11
                MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.3292       3.4354       3.6661       3.7869
                MEXICO           PESO           11.143       10.928       10.906       10.894
               *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.7151       0.7365       0.6492       0.7049
                NORWAY           KRONE           5.6365       5.8557       6.4095       6.4412
                SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.4140       1.5065       1.5882       1.6639
                SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            8.2480       7.0477       6.7668       6.3606
                SOUTH KOREA      WON          1098.71       928.97       954.32      1023.75
                SRI LANKA        RUPEE         108.298      110.620      103.940      100.383
                SWEDEN           KRONA           6.5846       6.7550       7.3718       7.4710
                SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.0816       1.1999       1.2532       1.2459
                TAIWAN           DOLLAR         31.521       32.855       32.506       32.131
                THAILAND         BAHT           32.962       32.203       37.876       40.252
               *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.8545       2.0020       1.8434       1.8204
                VENEZUELA        BOLIVAR         2.14         2.14         2.14         2.11

                MEMO:
                UNITED STATES    DOLLAR
              1)BROAD            JAN97=100      99.83       103.40       108.52       110.71
              2)MAJOR CURRENCY   MAR73=100      74.34        77.84        82.46        83.71
              3)OITP             JAN97=100     127.23       130.28       135.38       138.89

               This release is available online at http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g5a.

               For more information on exchange rate indexes for the U.S. dollar, see "Indexes of the Foreign
               Exchange Value of the Dollar," Federal Reserve Bulletin, 91:1 (Winter 2005), pp. 1-8
               (http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/2005/winter05_index.pdf). Weights for the major
               currencies index and the other important trading partners (OITP) index are derived from the
               broad index weights. The source for exchange rates not listed in the table above but used in
               the calculation of the broad and OITP indexes is Bloomberg.

               *  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.









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               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  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
                              =  239.640  SLOVENIAN TOLAR

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