Responding to IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s statement that the IMF Executive Board has approved her proposal for a $650 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDR) and that the IMF will work with its members to identify viable options for voluntary channeling of SDRs, Nadia Daar, Head of Oxfam International’s Washington DC Office, said:
“We commend this decision by the IMF’s Executive Directors and urge swift approval by the Board of Governors. This debt-free financing is urgently needed by struggling economies still in the eye of the COVID-19 storm, and with a long road ahead.”
“The lion’s share of the $650 billion SDR allocation will go to the richest countries ―it is vital that they reallocate significant portions of this windfall to step up their support to low- and middle-income countries.
“SDR channeling schemes should come as close as possible to being free of repayment, free of economic conditionality, and additional to what governments have already committed in aid.”
“We call on the IMF for greater transparency and to engage with civil society to discuss viable options for SDR channeling. This is particularly important for new potential mechanisms such as the “Resilience and Sustainability Trust”, for which there is still very limited information.”
Notes to editors
The $650 billion SDR issuance will deliver almost $400 billion in added reserves to the world’s richest economies, $230 billion to middle-income countries, and just $21 billion to low-income countries.
For more information, read Oxfam’s blog “How to get the biggest bang for your IMF buck”.
The G20 tasked the IMF with proposing options for how rich countries could "reallocate" portions of their SDRs to support more vulnerable economies. One of the options the IMF is exploring is the development of a new Resilience and Sustainability Trust.
Contact information
Annie Thériault in Peru | annie.theriault@oxfam.org | +51 936 307 990
For updates, please follow @Oxfam and @OxfamIFIs
Please support Oxfam's Coronavirus Response Appeal.
The $650 billion SDR issuance will deliver almost $400 billion in added reserves to the world’s richest economies, $230 billion to middle-income countries, and just $21 billion to low-income countries.
For more information, read Oxfam’s blog “How to get the biggest bang for your IMF buck”.
The G20 tasked the IMF with proposing options for how rich countries could "reallocate" portions of their SDRs to support more vulnerable economies. One of the options the IMF is exploring is the development of a new Resilience and Sustainability Trust.
Annie Thériault in Peru | annie.theriault@oxfam.org | +51 936 307 990
For updates, please follow @Oxfam and @OxfamIFIs
Please support Oxfam's Coronavirus Response Appeal.