GERMANS BUYING.

Waikato Times, Volume 97, Issue 15979, 6 May 1924, Page 6

GERMANS BUYING.

PROFITS OUT OF THE £. MORE TRICKERY. Why is Germany suddenly buying all kinds of foreign goods in foreign countries on a wholesale scale? This question has caused much speculation for some time. One of the chief reasons is that by prevent-, ing the new rentenmark from being' dealt in on foreign bourses the Reichbank has been able to preserve the fiction that 18 rentenmarks pire as good as the British £. Prices in Germany are, however, so high that one gets more for 20s abroad than for 20 rentenmarks in Germany. Since no one has any faith in the rentenmark, every German is anxious to take advantage of the fine bargain before it is too late. Germans also gain two marks every time a £ is bought for 18 marks. ,For that reason foreigners are plagued day by day by Germans who want to buy sterling to be able to import but cannot get enough from the Reichsbank. Germans flock to Paris with sterling to buy textiles, wines and perfumes, and other luxuries at cheap prices, even on three months’ terms, and speculate on still more profit through further falls of the franc. Industry Recovering.

In England they devote their chief attention to buying motor-cars, motor cycles and foodstuffs. British people there are incessantly asked if they can get good agencies for German Arms. In the Near East, particularly iu Greece and Turkey, Germans are suddenly buying the tobacco and dried fruit, for, through the treaty of Lausanne, they recently got access to these markets. A few days ago a new trade treaty was made with Siam which will facilitate the buying of cargoes of rice. It must be recognised that with the recovery of industry that is now taking place in Germany, and with the temporary stabilisation of the currency raw materials like wool, cotton an 4 copper are needed in far larger quantities for factories which hitherto stood idle. Moreover, many Germans are speculating on an early abolition of many import restrictions.