G.5(405)                                                         March 31, 1999



 FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES

 THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN MARCH 1999 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.


                                      (RATES IN CURRENCY UNITS PER DOLLAR)


                   MONETARY       1999         1999         1999         1998
   COUNTRY           UNIT         March      February      January       March

 *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.6308       0.6399       0.6320       0.6696
  AUSTRIA          SCHILLING       N.A.         N.A.         N.A.        12.852
  BELGIUM          FRANC           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.        37.70
  BRAZIL           REAL            1.9057       1.9261       1.5120       1.1334
  CANADA           DOLLAR          1.5176       1.4977       1.5194       1.4166
  CHINA, P.R.      YUAN            8.2792       8.2755       8.2789       8.3076
  DENMARK          KRONE           6.8287       6.6379       6.4194       6.9661
 *EMU MEMBERS      EURO            1.0886       1.1203       1.1591       N.A.
 *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.0853
  FINLAND          MARKKA          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         5.5467
  FRANCE           FRANC           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         6.1257
  GERMANY          D. MARK         N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.8272
  GREECE           DRACHMA       296.36       287.41       278.91       306.05
  HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7493       7.7490       7.7486       7.7458
  INDIA            RUPEE          42.52        42.53        42.55        39.57
 *IRELAND          POUND           N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         1.3672
  ITALY            LIRA            N.A.         N.A.         N.A.      1799.07
  JAPAN            YEN           119.47       116.67       113.29       129.08
  MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         3.8000       3.8000       3.8000       3.7456
  MEXICO           PESO            9.732       10.006       10.128        8.568
  NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         N.A.         N.A.         N.A.         2.0598
 *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.5345       0.5435       0.5388       0.5726
  NORWAY           KRONE           7.8151       7.7240       7.4532       7.5833
  PORTUGAL         ESCUDO          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.       187.03
  SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.7292       1.7004       1.6791       1.6188
  SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            6.2136       6.1146       5.9931       4.9746
  SOUTH KOREA      WON          1229.72      1188.84      1175.11      1489.36
  SPAIN            PESETA          N.A.         N.A.         N.A.       154.95
  SRI LANKA        RUPEE          69.570       69.069       68.629       62.083
  SWEDEN           KRONA           8.2144       7.9532       7.8188       7.9677
  SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4660       1.4272       1.3856       1.4901
  TAIWAN           DOLLAR         33.165       32.564       32.300       32.524
  THAILAND         BAHT           37.557       37.137       36.622       41.366
 *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6213       1.6276       1.6498       1.6619
  VENEZUELA        BOLIVAR       580.06       577.32       569.80       521.68

  MEMO:
  UNITED STATES    DOLLAR
1)BROAD            JAN97=100     117.80       116.37       114.68       114.36
2)MAJOR CURRENCY   MAR73=100      95.69        93.76        92.37        95.83
3)OITP             JAN97=100     131.03       130.83       128.98       122.07


 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 January 1, 1999, the euro is reported in place of the individual eure-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  =  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