ECONOMIC

TABLE 32.—Estimated disposition of OPEC investible surplus, 1974-76[Billions of dollars]DispositionUnited States .Banking and portfolio placements.Short-term bank deposits and Treasury billsLong-term bank depositsU.S. Treasury bonds and notesOther domestic bonds and notesEquitiesOther (includes real estate and other direct investment,prepayments on U.S. exports, debt amortization, etc.)__.United KingdomOther developed countriesLess developed countriesNon-market countriesEuro-banking market 4International financial institutions (including IMF Oil Facility).Total investible surplus (identified above)ESTIMATED INVESTIBLE SURPLUSError of estimates of surplus and unidentified investments._1 Preliminary.2 Includes shift of over $1 million from prior year "direct investment" in a U.S.-incorporated petroleum company tobanking and portfolio assets.3 Less than $0.5 million.4 Claims on banks in currencies other than that of the country in which bank resides; excludes banks in the UnitedStates.« Not available.Note.—Detail may not add to totals because of rounding.Source: Department of the Treasury.measures taken by a number of non-oil LDCs in late 1975 and in 1976 werereflected in lower import flows. But a more important factor in the smallerdeficit was the resumption of growth in the volume, and even more in thevalue, of exports. Commodity prices began to rise early in the recovery. TheLondon Economist's "Index of Commodity Prices" in dollar terms showeda rise of 40 percent between July 1975 and July 1976. With the pause in therecovery at midyear, price increases appeared to come to a halt for somecommodities and to moderate for others. The overall result, however, wasthat by the end of 1976 commodity prices on average, at least as measuredby the Economises index, had reached the inflation peaks reported in 1974.This upward shift in the price level for commodities will continue to bereflected in the export earnings of commodity producers.EXCHANGE RATE CHANGESThe financing of external deficits in 1976 was accompanied by a very highrate of activity in foreign exchange markets. The trade-weigh ted exchangerates for certain major currencies showed considerable movement despiterelatively large balance of payments financing and heavy intervention by for-127