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`G.5A(405)                                                       January 5, 1998





               THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN 1997 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.


                                                    (RATES IN CURRENCY UNITS PER DOLLAR)


                                 MONETARY
                  COUNTRY          UNIT         1997         1996         1995         1994

               *AUSTRALIA        DOLLAR          0.7437       0.7828       0.7407       0.7316
                AUSTRIA          SCHILLING      12.206       10.589       10.076       11.409
                BELGIUM          FRANC          35.807       30.970       29.472       33.426
                CANADA           DOLLAR          1.3849       1.3638       1.3725       1.3664
                CHINA,P.R.       YUAN            8.3193       8.3389       8.3700       8.6397
                DENMARK          KRONE           6.6092       5.8003       5.5999       6.3561
               *EURO COMMUNITY   ECU             1.1300       1.2520       1.2941       1.1862
                FINLAND          MARKKA          5.1956       4.5948       4.3763       5.2340
                FRANCE           FRANC           5.8393       5.1158       4.9864       5.5459
                GERMANY          D. MARK         1.7348       1.5049       1.4321       1.6216
                GREECE           DRACHMA       273.28       240.82       231.68       242.50
                HONG KONG        DOLLAR          7.7431       7.7345       7.7357       7.7290
                INDIA            RUPEE          36.365       35.506       32.418       31.394
               *IRELAND          POUND           1.5163       1.5995       1.6035       1.4969
                ITALY            LIRA         1703.81      1542.76      1629.45      1611.49
                JAPAN            YEN           121.06       108.78        93.96       102.18
                MALAYSIA         RINGGIT         2.8173       2.5154       2.5073       2.6237
                MEXICO           PESO            7.9177       7.6004       6.4467       3.3853
                NETHERLANDS      GUILDER         1.9525       1.6863       1.6044       1.8190
               *NEW ZEALAND      DOLLAR          0.6625       0.6877       0.6563       0.5936
                NORWAY           KRONE           7.0857       6.4594       6.3355       7.0553
                PORTUGAL         ESCUDO        175.44       154.28       149.88       165.93
                SINGAPORE        DOLLAR          1.4857       1.4100       1.4171       1.5275
                SOUTH AFRICA     RAND            4.6072       4.3011       3.6284       3.5526
                SOUTH KOREA      WON           950.77       805.00       772.69       806.93
                SPAIN            PESETA        146.53       126.68       124.64       133.88
                SRI LANKA        RUPEE          59.026       55.289       51.047       49.170
                SWEDEN           KRONA           7.6446       6.7082       7.1406       7.7161
                SWITZERLAND      FRANC           1.4514       1.2361       1.1812       1.3667
                TAIWAN           DOLLAR         28.775       27.468       26.495       26.465
                THAILAND         BAHT           31.072       25.359       24.921       25.161
               *UNITED KINGDOM   POUND           1.6376       1.5607       1.5785       1.5319


                MEMO:
              **UNITED STATES    DOLLAR         96.38        87.34        84.25        91.32

               *VALUE IS U.S. DOLLARS

               **INDEX OF WEIGHTED AVERAGE EXCHANGE VALUE OF U.S. DOLLAR AGAINST CURRENCIES OF OTHER
               G-10 COUNTRIES.  MARCH 1973 = 100.  WEIGHTS ARE 1972-76 GLOBAL TRADE OF EACH OF THE
               10 COUNTRIES.  SERIES REVISED AS OF AUGUST 1978.  FOR  DESCRIPTION AND BACK DATA, SEE
               "INDEX OF THE WEIGHTED-AVERAGE EXCHANGE VALUE OF THE U.S. DOLLAR: REVISION" ON PAGE
               700 OF THE AUGUST 1978 FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN.`

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