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.
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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; $42.22/oz
between 12-Feb-1973 and 30-Jun-1974. Since July 1974 the SDR has been
defined in terms of a basekt of currencies. This basket consisted
initially of 16 currencies and was reduced to five in 1981. When the
German Mark and French Franc were replaced by the Euro in 1999, the
number of currencies shrank to four. Every five
years the IMF determines which five currencies will enter the basket,
and which weight will be applied to each currency. The exchange rates
used by the IMF to calculate the official SDR are the noon rates in
the London foreign exchange market. When the London market is closed,
noon rates in the New York market are used, and Frankfurt fixing rates
are employed when the New York market is also closed. The tables
on the right show the composition of the SDR.
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Note that the currency values are exact as defined by Rule 0-1 of
the IMF. However, the weights are approximate and will change along
with the fluctuations of the constituent currencies. To get exact
current weights, refer to the IMF's current valuation page (see below).
Weights can be calculated by dividing the US-$ equivalent amount
of each currency by the sum of US-$ equivalent amounts.
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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.
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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.
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 |
 |
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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