| those countries having currencies whose values tend to vary directly with the rise and fall of the value of the pound sterling. |
sterling area
formerly, a group of countries that kept most of their exchange reserves at the Bank of England and, in return, had access to the London capital and money market. After the devaluation of the pound sterling in September 1931, the United Kingdom and other countries that continued to maintain parity with sterling and to hold their reserves in London became known as the sterling bloc.
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