At the beginning of September the official rate for sterling was fixed by the Bank of England within a range of $4.02 to $4.06. With sterling thus about 16 per cent, cheaper in relation to the dollar than in the last two years of the World War, the belief is that it will have some effect on commodity prices generally, since Great Britain is a large producer of raw materials and the United Kingdom normally is the largest importer of goods and materials. The proportion of imports into the United King-dam from countries within the empire has increased steadily in recent years. In 1938 it amounted to 40.39 per cent. of total imports, the highest figure yet recorded, and compares with 29.41 per cent, in 1929,
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