TRINIDAD and Tobago’s foreign reserves are back up to over US$7billion as the country benefits from the largest Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On Twitter on Tuesday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert tweeted, “T&T’s Foreign Reserves have just been boosted by the equivalent of US$644million, as a result of a global distribution by the IMF of Special Drawing Rights designed to help countries cope with the Forex demands of Covid-19. Our Net Foreign Reserves are now back over US$7billion.”
On August 2, IMF’s Board of Governors approved a general allocation of SDRs equivalent to US$650 billion (about SDR 456 billion) to boost global liquidity.
“This is a historic decision – the largest SDR allocation in the history of the IMF and a shot in the arm for the global economy at a time of unprecedented crisis. The SDR allocation will benefit all members, address the long-term global need for reserves, build confidence, and foster the resilience and stability of the global economy. It will particularly help our most vulnerable countries struggling to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 crisis,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on IMF’s website.
The IMF stated that the general allocation of SDRs will become effective on August 23. The newly created SDRs will be credited to IMF member countries in proportion to their existing quotas in the Fund. About US$275 billion (about SDR 193 billion) of the new allocation will go to emerging markets and developing countries, including low-income countries.
