Special Drawing Rights for Gender Equality
Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) are a supplementary reserve asset created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to bolster global liquidity. They serve as a unique financial instrument, representing potential claims on the freely usable currencies of IMF member countries.
SDRs are backed by five currencies: the U.S. Dollar, the Euro, the Yen, the Pound Sterling and the Renminbi as of 2015.
Ever since their creation in 1969, a total of SDRs 660.7 billion (equivalent to about US$943 billion) have been allocated. The largest-ever allocation in history was approved in August 2021, in which about SDRs 456 billion the equivalent of US$650 billion were issued to IMF member countries. This allocation was timely to address the long-term global reserve needs to cope with the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
