The SDR is an international reserve asset created by the IMF to supplement the official reserves of its member countries.
The SDR is not a currency. It is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. As such, SDRs can provide a country with liquidity.
A basket of currencies defines the SDR: the US dollar, Euro, Chinese Yuan, Japanese Yen, and the British Pound.
Since the onset of the pandemic, SDR channeling (and equivalent currency amounts) has helped many countries in need, especially those eligible for financial support from the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) and the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST).
Since 2020, channeling of $45 billion is providing the PRGT with the capacity to mobilize $40 billion in interest-free loans to our poorest members through 2024. This financing helps support growth enhancing reforms in these countries. So far, these loans have benefited 56 countries and could benefit more in the years ahead.
Channeling has also supported the operations of the RST, which delivers affordable long-term financing to help vulnerable countries tackle long-term challenges including climate change. To date, 18 RST partners have channeled $42 billion to the RST, which is expected to translate into $29 billion in affordable financing through 2025.
This paper provides an update on the status of the SDR trading market and operations. For more than three decades, SDRs have exclusively been exchanged for freely usable currencies in transactions by agreement, primarily through the Voluntary Trading Arrangements (VTAs). Since the last annual update, SDR trading has continued to be dominated by SDR sales, although SDR acquisitions have increased significantly. From September 2022 to August 2023, SDR 17.9 billion were sold through the VTA market, of which SDR 8.9 billion were exchanged by 29 participants into currencies and SDR 8.0 billion were sold by the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) and the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) for liquidity management and to facilitate the investment of SDR contributions. On the purchase side, the volume and number of transactions increased from the previous year as more participants needed to replenish their SDR holdings to cover charges to the IMF, reflecting the rising SDR interest rate. The VTAs continue to have ample capacities to meet the demand for exchange of SDRs into currencies.
This report follows up on the impact of the historic $650 billion 2021 SDR allocation on the global economy, documenting IMF members' use of the allocation and assessing its economic effects. The report finds that the allocation was beneficial for the global economy, helping meet the long-term global need for reserves and supporting market confidence. Members used the allocation mostly to increase international reserve buffers, with some emerging market and developing countries also using it to meet fiscal and external financing needs. While SDR interest costs have increased, members’ capacity to service SDR obligations remains generally adequate. Members’ use of the allocation was mostly in line with Fund advice, and the transparency and accountability of SDR holdings and use has been broadly appropriate, although some gaps remain. Voluntary SDR channeling from economically stronger to more vulnerable members has helped amplify the benefits of the allocation.
This Technical Report discusses the results of the Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA), including the Climate module, for Rwanda, undertaken in 2022. The Rwandan government has placed significant emphasis on public investment to support the country’s economic transformation, and investment has accelerated in recent years. The country performs well in the design and effectiveness of its public investment management institutions, in planning and coordination, but has mixed results in allocation and implementation, as evidenced by the stalling and abandonment of some projects. Infrastructure development is also a crucial component of the country's climate change adaptation strategy. Rwanda's Nationally Determined Contribution outlines measures to address climate change, with an estimated cost of over USD 5.3 billion (55 percent of GDP) by 2030. Rwanda already performs strongly in climate change-aware planning, with a well-designed and effective system for integrating climate change considerations in national and sectoral planning processes. However, there is room to enhance project appraisal and selection processes by incorporating climate change mitigation and adaptation criteria. Many important documents and data remain unpublished, such as the Fiscal Risk Review, project costs, and selection criteria, reducing accountability and scrutiny.
Burundi is a fragile state with a history of political tensions and weak institutions. The country fell into a political and security crisis following late President Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term in 2015. The economic recovery that was underway in 2019 was slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. More recently, the country’s economy has been weakened by spillovers of the war in Ukraine, with a double-digit inflation, and domestic shocks, including delayed rainfall and outbreaks of livestock fevers. Burundi has benefited from debt relief under the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (SDR 17.96 million), a disbursement under the Rapid Credit Facility (SDR 53.9 million, 35 percent of quota), and the 2021 SDR allocation (SDR 147.6 million). The 2022 Article IV Consultation was completed in July 2022, the first Article IV since 2014.
The government-driven growth model remains a challenge for sustainable and inclusive growth in Lesotho, displacing resources from the private sector. Growth and inflation are subject to the impact of the war in Ukraine, sluggish regional performance, climate shocks, and longstanding structural issues including governance and corruption vulnerabilities, limited financial access, and fragile public financial management. The recently-elected government is prioritizing fiscal consolidation on the back of windfall transfers from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) that have helped alleviate pressures on both financing and reserves.
Growth has remained strong and resilient, fueled by expanding mining activity. However, the escalation of the armed conflict in Eastern DRC is having major negative humanitarian effects and weighed on public finances; upcoming elections, scheduled at the end of 2023, are also adding to uncertainty. Since the last review, the government’s revenue shortfalls and rapid spending contributed to a deterioration of the external balance, excess domestic currency liquidity, exchange rate depreciation, and persistent inflation.
This paper provides an update on the status of the SDR trading market and operations. For more than three decades, SDRs have exclusively been exchanged for freely usable currencies in transactions by agreement, primarily through the Voluntary Trading Arrangements (VTAs). Since the last annual update, SDR trading has continued to be dominated by SDR sales, although SDR acquisitions have increased significantly. From September 2022 to August 2023, SDR 17.9 billion were sold through the VTA market, of which SDR 8.9 billion were exchanged by 29 participants into currencies and SDR 8.0 billion were sold by the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) and the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) for liquidity management and to facilitate the investment of SDR contributions. On the purchase side, the volume and number of transactions increased from the previous year as more participants needed to replenish their SDR holdings to cover charges to the IMF, reflecting the rising SDR interest rate. The VTAs continue to have ample capacities to meet the demand for exchange of SDRs into currencies.
This report follows up on the impact of the historic $650 billion 2021 SDR allocation on the global economy, documenting IMF members' use of the allocation and assessing its economic effects. The report finds that the allocation was beneficial for the global economy, helping meet the long-term global need for reserves and supporting market confidence. Members used the allocation mostly to increase international reserve buffers, with some emerging market and developing countries also using it to meet fiscal and external financing needs. While SDR interest costs have increased, members’ capacity to service SDR obligations remains generally adequate. Members’ use of the allocation was mostly in line with Fund advice, and the transparency and accountability of SDR holdings and use has been broadly appropriate, although some gaps remain. Voluntary SDR channeling from economically stronger to more vulnerable members has helped amplify the benefits of the allocation.
This Technical Report discusses the results of the Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA), including the Climate module, for Rwanda, undertaken in 2022. The Rwandan government has placed significant emphasis on public investment to support the country’s economic transformation, and investment has accelerated in recent years. The country performs well in the design and effectiveness of its public investment management institutions, in planning and coordination, but has mixed results in allocation and implementation, as evidenced by the stalling and abandonment of some projects. Infrastructure development is also a crucial component of the country's climate change adaptation strategy. Rwanda's Nationally Determined Contribution outlines measures to address climate change, with an estimated cost of over USD 5.3 billion (55 percent of GDP) by 2030. Rwanda already performs strongly in climate change-aware planning, with a well-designed and effective system for integrating climate change considerations in national and sectoral planning processes. However, there is room to enhance project appraisal and selection processes by incorporating climate change mitigation and adaptation criteria. Many important documents and data remain unpublished, such as the Fiscal Risk Review, project costs, and selection criteria, reducing accountability and scrutiny.
Burundi is a fragile state with a history of political tensions and weak institutions. The country fell into a political and security crisis following late President Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term in 2015. The economic recovery that was underway in 2019 was slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. More recently, the country’s economy has been weakened by spillovers of the war in Ukraine, with a double-digit inflation, and domestic shocks, including delayed rainfall and outbreaks of livestock fevers. Burundi has benefited from debt relief under the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (SDR 17.96 million), a disbursement under the Rapid Credit Facility (SDR 53.9 million, 35 percent of quota), and the 2021 SDR allocation (SDR 147.6 million). The 2022 Article IV Consultation was completed in July 2022, the first Article IV since 2014.
The government-driven growth model remains a challenge for sustainable and inclusive growth in Lesotho, displacing resources from the private sector. Growth and inflation are subject to the impact of the war in Ukraine, sluggish regional performance, climate shocks, and longstanding structural issues including governance and corruption vulnerabilities, limited financial access, and fragile public financial management. The recently-elected government is prioritizing fiscal consolidation on the back of windfall transfers from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) that have helped alleviate pressures on both financing and reserves.
Growth has remained strong and resilient, fueled by expanding mining activity. However, the escalation of the armed conflict in Eastern DRC is having major negative humanitarian effects and weighed on public finances; upcoming elections, scheduled at the end of 2023, are also adding to uncertainty. Since the last review, the government’s revenue shortfalls and rapid spending contributed to a deterioration of the external balance, excess domestic currency liquidity, exchange rate depreciation, and persistent inflation.
