Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) Utilization

Special Drawing Rights can provide countries with additional liquidity, strengthen international financial stability, and enable financing for development and climate action without increasing sovereign debt burdens.

2030 Goals

Increase the capacity of the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) and the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) to deploy rechanneled SDRs, building on the achievement of the USD 100bn collective target and prioritizing effective, scalable use over additional headline commitments.

Identify and utilize alternative prescribed holders, beyond the IMF, to rechannel SDRs for more innovative uses.

Explore the potential for periodic regular and predictable allocations of SDRs and consider decoupling SDRs from IMF quotas.

The IMF 2030 Action Agenda includes reforms that aims to increase the scope and efficiency of re-channeling SDRs., including addressing legal and accounting constraints that currently limit their use for climate-related purposes.

Status

No Progress

Recent developments in SDRs include the IMF's historic USD 650bn allocation in August 2021 to provide global liquidity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IMF's Resilience and Sustainability Trust uses SDRs to support low-income and vulnerable middle-income countries in addressing climate change challenges.

Efforts are also underway to reallocate unused SDRs from advanced economies to vulnerable countries, with the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors acknowledging in 2025 that voluntary SDR channeling has exceeded the collective USD 100bn target, primarily through the PRGT and the RST.

MDBs, such as the AfDB, continue to advocate for SDR reallocations to boost their lending capacity for sustainable projects.

Recent discussions further emphasized the need to resolve legal and accounting impediments to SDR use and to explore mechanisms for the regular issuance of SDRs.

SDRs can be an important tool in addressing global climate challenges but changes are still required to current SDR accounting systems. Current rules prevent their use as fiscal resources or as MDB capital, and reform proposals continue to address the need for SDRs to be counted as net assets to expand fiscal space without increasing debt ratios.

Leading Actors

Cooperation is required between these actors and audiences to drive progress foward in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) Utilization.

Multilateral Development Banks

World Bank

Multilateral Development Banks

African Development Bank (AfDB)

Multilateral Development Banks

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

International Organizations

International Monetary Fund

Key Milestones

Showcasing the key reform milestones for Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) Utilization that have been addressed at global events.

View Roadmap

13-19 April 2026

Washington DC, US

WBG/IMF Spring Meetings

View Event

Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) Utilization
Discussions should focus on accelerating the rechanneling of SDRs toward climate and development priorities, including through MDBs and trust-based mechanisms, while safeguarding reserve asset characteristics.
Loss & Damage
Discuss how international financial institutions can complement the Loss and Damage architecture by providing predictable, grant-based support for slow-onset events and climate-related mobility, while avoiding additional debt burdens

17-19 October 2026

Washington, DC

WBG/IMF Annual Meetings

View Event

Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) Utilization
The IMF was urged to remove barriers to the effective use of existing Special Drawing Rights, to complete the 16th General Review of Quotas without delay, and to explore mechanisms for the regular issuance of SDRs beyond exceptional crisis circumstances.
Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) Utilization
The IMF was urged to remove barriers to the effective use of existing Special Drawing Rights, to complete the 16th General Review of Quotas without delay, and to explore mechanisms for the regular issuance of SDRs beyond exceptional crisis circumstances.

Learn More

Publications and educational material to deepen understanding of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) Utilization.