Special drawing rights
Special drawing rights (SDRs, code ) are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). SDRs are units of account for the IMF, and not a currency per se. They represent a claim to currency held by IMF member countries for which they may be exchanged. SDRs were created in 1969 to supplement a shortfall of preferred foreign exchange reserve assets, namely gold and U.S. dollars. The ISO 4217 currency code for special drawing rights is and the numeric code is 960.
SDRs are allocated by the IMF to countries, and cannot be held or used by private parties. The number of SDRs in existence was around XDR 21.4 billion in August 2009. During the global financial crisis of 2009, an additional XDR 182.6 billion was allocated to "provide liquidity to the global economic system and supplement member countries' official reserves". By October 2014, the number of SDRs in existence was XDR 204 billion. Due to economic stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic some economists and several finance ministers of poorer countries have called for a new allocation of $4T to support member economies as they seek ways to recover. In March 2021 the G24 and others proposed an allocation of $500B for this purpose. In response, XDR 456.5 billion (about US$650B) was allocated on August 23, 2021.
The value of a SDR is based on a basket of key international currencies reviewed by IMF every five years. The weights assigned to each currency in the XDR basket are adjusted to take into account their current prominence in terms of international trade and national foreign exchange reserves. Currently, the XDR basket consists of the following five currencies: U.S. dollar 43.38%, euro 29.31%, renminbi (Chinese yuan) 12.28%, Japanese yen 7.59%, British pound sterling 7.44%.
While the ISO 4217 currency code for special drawing rights is XDR, they are often referred to by their acronym SDR. Both refer to the name "special drawing rights".
Intentionally innocuous and free of connotations because of disagreements over the nature of this new reserve asset during its creation, the name derives from a debate about its primary function—money or credit. While the name would offend neither side, it can be argued that prior to 1981 the XDR was a debt security and so a form of credit. Member countries receiving XDR allocations were required by the reconstitution provision of the XDR articles to hold a prescribed number of XDRs. If a state used any of its allotment, it was expected to rebuild its XDR holdings. As the reconstitution provisions were abrogated in 1981, the XDR now functions less like credit than previously. Countries are still expected to maintain their XDR holdings at a certain level, but penalties for holding fewer than the allocated amount are now less onerous.
The name may actually derive from an early proposal for IMF "reserve drawing rights". The word "reserve" was later replaced with "special" because the idea that the IMF was creating a foreign exchange reserve asset was contentious.
SDRs are allocated by the IMF to countries, and cannot be held or used by private parties. The number of SDRs in existence was around XDR 21.4 billion in August 2009. During the global financial crisis of 2009, an additional XDR 182.6 billion was allocated to "provide liquidity to the global economic system and supplement member countries' official reserves". By October 2014, the number of SDRs in existence was XDR 204 billion. Due to economic stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic some economists and several finance ministers of poorer countries have called for a new allocation of $4T to support member economies as they seek ways to recover. In March 2021 the G24 and others proposed an allocation of $500B for this purpose. In response, XDR 456.5 billion (about US$650B) was allocated on August 23, 2021.
The value of a SDR is based on a basket of key international currencies reviewed by IMF every five years. The weights assigned to each currency in the XDR basket are adjusted to take into account their current prominence in terms of international trade and national foreign exchange reserves. Currently, the XDR basket consists of the following five currencies: U.S. dollar 43.38%, euro 29.31%, renminbi (Chinese yuan) 12.28%, Japanese yen 7.59%, British pound sterling 7.44%.
While the ISO 4217 currency code for special drawing rights is XDR, they are often referred to by their acronym SDR. Both refer to the name "special drawing rights".
Intentionally innocuous and free of connotations because of disagreements over the nature of this new reserve asset during its creation, the name derives from a debate about its primary function—money or credit. While the name would offend neither side, it can be argued that prior to 1981 the XDR was a debt security and so a form of credit. Member countries receiving XDR allocations were required by the reconstitution provision of the XDR articles to hold a prescribed number of XDRs. If a state used any of its allotment, it was expected to rebuild its XDR holdings. As the reconstitution provisions were abrogated in 1981, the XDR now functions less like credit than previously. Countries are still expected to maintain their XDR holdings at a certain level, but penalties for holding fewer than the allocated amount are now less onerous.
The name may actually derive from an early proposal for IMF "reserve drawing rights". The word "reserve" was later replaced with "special" because the idea that the IMF was creating a foreign exchange reserve asset was contentious.