Special Drawing Rights

With global growth slowing and many developing countries facing debt crises, the world needs another infusion of the International Monetary Fund’s reserve asset. But while the benefits would be far-reaching and free of risk, the US Treasury has been standing in the way.

The world is facing multiple crises. A new issuance of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) is urgently needed for global relief.

Gain insights into the allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and the disparities between wealthy nations and developing countries.

Exploring the harm caused by IMF surcharges on borrowing countries and the implications for the global economy and debt-stressed nations.

Explore the relationship between climate change and debt in developing countries. Understand how rising debt costs are adding to their vulnerabilities.

New calculations negate one of the main rationales the IMF has put forward to justify its unfair, unnecessary, and counterproductive surcharge policy.

The IMF must be brought into the twenty-first century if it is to play a constructive role in ending the climate crisis.

This report explains how issuances of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are an effective tool to mitigate the effects of the multiple crises that Latin American and Caribbean countries currently face.

SDRs are international reserve assets issued by the IMF. Countries can use their SDRs to pay debts, bolster foreign reserves — thereby helping avert debilitating financial crises — or, by exchanging them for hard currency, fund purchases of essential goods.

Nearly 80 low- and middle-income countries are considered by international institutions as being in or at risk of debt distress.