Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the appropriate fraction of UK Special Drawing Rights received this year to re-channel via Multilateral Development Banks.

At their October meeting, G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors welcomed progress made by the IMF to provide options for members with strong external positions to channel a share of their allocated Special Drawing Rights (SDR), including considering viable options to voluntarily channel SDR to Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs).

The Chancellor has committed to channelling up to SDR 4bn to support vulnerable countries, starting with an additional loan of SDR 1bn to the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, which provides zero interest loans to low-income countries.

The IMF and MDB partners are developing further channelling options, and we will continue to consider these for UK support.