IMF Executive Board Backs
US$250 Billion SDR Allocation to Boost Global Liquidity
The Executive Board of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has backed an allocation of Special
Drawing Rights (SDRs) equivalent to US$250 billion to
provide liquidity to the global economic system by supplementing the
Fund’s 186 member countries’ foreign exchange reserves.
The equivalent of nearly
US$100 billion of the new allocation will go to emerging markets and
developing countries, of which low-income countries will receive over US$18
billion. The prop
osal will now be submitted to the IMF’s Board of
Governors for final approval. “The SDR
allocation is a key part of the Fund’s response to the global crisis,
offering significant support to its members in these difficult
times,” IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn
said.
The SDR allocation was requested as part
of a US$1.1
trillion plan agreed at the G-20 summit in London in April and endorsed by
the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) to tackle the
global financial and economic crisis by restoring credit, growth and jobs
in the world economy.
If approved by the Board of
Governors with an 85 percent majority of the total voting power in a vote
scheduled to close on August 7, the SDR allocation will be in effect on
August 28.
"The allocation is a
prime example of a cooperative monetary response to the global financial
crisis," the Managing Director underscored.
The SDR allocation will be made to IMF members that are
participants in the
Special Drawing Rights Department (currently all
members) in proportion to their existing quotas in the Fund, which are
based broadly on their relative size in the global economy. The operation
will increase each country’s allocation of SDRs by approximately 74
percent of its quota, and Fund members’ total allocation to an amount
equivalent to about $283 billion, from about $33 billion (SDR 21.4
billion).
SDRs allocated to members will count
toward their reserve assets, acting as a low cost liquidity buffer for
low-income countries and emerging markets and reducing the need for
excessive self-insurance. Some members may choose to sell part or all of
their allocation to other members in exchange for hard currency--for
example, to meet balance of payments needs--while other members may choose
to buy more SDRs as a means of reallocating their reserves. In supporting
the allocation proposal, the Executive Board stressed that it should not
weaken the pursuit of prudent macroeconomic policies, and should not
substitute for a Fund-supported program or postpone needed policy
adjustments.
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