The SDR and Its Potential as an International Reserve Asset

Chelsky, Jeff

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCOUNTING;    ACCUMULATION OF RESERVES;    ADDITIONAL CURRENCIES;    ALLOCATION;    ASSETS;   

RP-ID  :  62095

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Since the onset of the global financialcrisis, there has been an upswing of interest among someprominent policy makers and academics in the InternationalMonetary Fund's (IMF) Special Drawing Right (SDR) as a'safe' international reserve asset. Butpreexisting constraints on the SDR and the magnitude ofsupport required to push through the reforms necessary toenhance the SDR's role make it unlikely that ambitiousaspirations for this 'quasi-currency' will berealized. Moreover, the case for enhancing the SDR'srole has been somewhat overstated, as has the view that thecurrent international monetary system requires the dominanceof a single currency, namely the U.S. dollar. To asignificant extent, U.S. dollar dominance is the result ofspecific policy choices by individual countries (forexample, export-led growth strategies, close links to theU.S. dollar) rather than an inherent rigidity in theinternational monetary system. Many of the problems thatsome policy makers are seeking to address through a greaterrole for the SDR can more easily be achieved in the contextof the continuing trend to a multicurrency reserve system.