IMF Support for COVID-19 Recovery

The EU-AU summit is an important moment where the European Union could announce an ambitious plan to recycle its Special Drawing Rights which our analysis shows there is plenty of room to do. While some EU countries have been at the forefront of advocating for recycling, as a group the EU membe...

Tracking the movements of IMF special drawing rights (SDRs) can be confusing and challenging. In an effort to increase transparency around SDR transactions, the IMF released its Annual Update on SDR Trading Operations. Most of the report focuses on Voluntary Trade Arrangements, a backbone of the SDR...

With the allocation of $650 billion of IMF special drawing rights (SDRs), the global economy has, in the words of the IMF’s Managing Director, been given a financial shot in the arm. One question that naturally follows is whether the injection has done any good?

With the recent allocation of special drawing rights (SDRs)—a reserve asset issued by the IMF—to help countries weather the economic effects of the pandemic, the international discussion has shifted to ways to rechannel a portion of the SDRs that were allocated to high-income economies. The focus ha...