Special Drawing Rights The SDR Fact Sheet

What is a Special Drawing Right (SDR), and what is it used for?   The SDR (Special Drawing Right) is an artificial "basket" currency used by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) for internal accounting purposes. The SDR is also used by some countries as a peg for their own currency, and is used as an international reserve asset.   What is the value of an SDR?   Initially, the value of the SDR was defined in terms of one US-$, which in turn was defined in terms of an ounce of gold: $35/oz until 18-Dec-1971; $38/oz between 18-Dec-1971 and 11-Feb-1973; $42.22/oz between 12-Feb-1973 and 30-Jun-1974. Since July 1974 the SDR has been defined in terms of a basekt of currencies. This basket consisted initially of 16 currencies and was reduced to five in 1981. When the German Mark and French Franc were replaced by the Euro in 1999, the number of currencies shrank to four. Every five years the IMF determines which five currencies will enter the basket, and which weight will be applied to each currency. The exchange rates used by the IMF to calculate the official SDR are the noon rates in the London foreign exchange market. When the London market is closed, noon rates in the New York market are used, and Frankfurt fixing rates are employed when the New York market is also closed. The tables on the right show the composition of the SDR. Note that the currency values are exact as defined by Rule 0-1 of the IMF. However, the weights are approximate and will change along with the fluctuations of the constituent currencies. To get exact current weights, refer to the IMF's current valuation page (see below). Weights can be calculated by dividing the US-$ equivalent amount of each currency by the sum of US-$ equivalent amounts.   How can one calculate the value of an SDR?   To calculate the value of the SDR in national currency (say, ABC), multiply the four exchange rates of the home country vis-à-vis the basket-currency countries (i.e., ABC/USD, ABC/EUR, ABC/JPY, and ABC/GBP) with the basket values indicated in the above table. Add these four numbers together to obtain the ABC/SDR exchange rate.   What is today's value of the SDR?   The International Monetary Fund prepares a daily web page with today's SDR valuation. A full SDR valuation history is also available on thhis web page as an Excel file.   Where can I get more information?   The IMF has a SDR home page with links to current rates and more information. Authoritative SDR rates by month and a large number of currencies are also available directly from the International Monetary Fund. The current value of an SDR vis-à-vis the US-$ and C-$ are available from the PACIFC Exchange Rate Service. SDR rates against numerous currencies for the last five days can also be retrieved from the IMF SDRs per Currency unit and Currency units per SDR last five days web page.

January 1981 - December 1985 ISO Currency Weight Value  USD   US Dollar   42%   $ 0.540   DEM   German Mark   19%   DM 0.460   JPY   Japanese Yen   13%   ¥ 34.0   FRF   French Franc   13%   F 0.740   GBP   British Pound   13%   £ 0.0710  January 1986 - December 1990 ISO Currency Weight Value  USD   US Dollar   42%   $ 0.452   DEM   German Mark   19%   DM 0.527   JPY   Japanese Yen   15%   ¥ 33.4   FRF   French Franc   12%   F 1.020   GBP   British Pound   12%   £ 0.0893  January 1991 - December 1995 ISO Currency Weight Value  USD   US Dollar   40%   $ 0.572   DEM   German Mark   21%   DM 0.453   JPY   Japanese Yen   17%   ¥ 31.8   FRF   French Franc   11%   F 0.800   GBP   British Pound   11%   £ 0.0812  January 1996 - December 1998 ISO Currency Weight Value  USD   US Dollar   39%   $ 0.582   DEM   German Mark   21%   DM 0.446   JPY   Japanese Yen   18%   ¥ 27.2   FRF   French Franc   11%   F 0.813   GBP   British Pound   11%   £ 0.1050  January 1999 - December 2000 ISO Currency Weight Value  USD   US Dollar   39%   $ 0.582   EUR   European Euros   32%   € 0.3519   JPY   Japanese Yen   18%   ¥ 27.2   GBP   British Pound   11%   £ 0.1050  January 2001 - December 2005 ISO Currency Weight Value  USD   US Dollar   44%   $ 0.5770   EUR   European Euros   31%   € 0.4260   JPY   Japanese Yen   14%   ¥ 21.0   GBP   British Pound   11%   £ 0.0984  January 2006 - December 2010 ISO Currency Weight Value  USD   US Dollar   44%   $ 0.6320   EUR   European Euros   34%   € 0.4100   JPY   Japanese Yen   11%   ¥ 18.4   GBP   British Pound   11%   £ 0.0903  January 2011 - September 2016 ISO Currency Weight Value  USD   US Dollar   41.9%   $ 0.660   EUR   European Euros   37.4%   € 0.423   JPY   Japanese Yen   9.4%   ¥ 12.10   GBP   British Pound   11.3%   £ 0.111  October 2016 - July 2022 ISO Currency Weight Value  USD   US Dollar   41.73%   $ 0.58252   EUR   European Euros   30.93%   € 0.38671   CNY   Chinese Renminbi   10.92%   ¥ 1.0174   JPY   Japanese Yen   8.33%   ¥ 11.9   GBP   British Pound   8.09%   £ 0.085946  August 2022 - ISO Currency Weight Value  USD   US Dollar   43.38%   $ 0.57813   EUR   European Euros   29.31%   € 0.37379   CNY   Chinese Renminbi   12.28%   ¥ 1.0993   JPY   Japanese Yen   7.59%   ¥ 13.452   GBP   British Pound   7.44%   £ 0.08087

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