IMF determines new currency amounts for SDR valuation basket

• Pages: 15

Page 15

In a press release dated December 29, the IMF announced that it had revised amounts for the four currencies that determine the value of the SDR. Effective January 1, 2001, the value of the SDR will be the sum of the values of the following amounts of each currency:

U.S. dollar 0.577

Euro 0.426

Japanese yen 21.0

Pound sterling 0.0984

The decision on the amount of each currency in the SDR valuation basket is the final step implementing the results of the latest review of the method of valuing the SDR (see IMF Press Release No. 00/55, October 12, 2000).

Previously, the IMF had determined that the composition of the SDR basket and the weights assigned each currency would be 45 percent for the U.S. dollar, 29 percent for the euro, 15 percent for the Japanese yen, and 11 percent for the pound sterling. The precise amounts of each currency are determined so that the value of the new and existing SDR baskets are the same on the last working day (December 29, 2000) before the new basket comes into effect (January 1, 2001). The actual share of each currency in the valuation of the SDR on any particular day depends on the...