Qatar pledges 20% of SDR holdings to support IMF’s poverty reduction initiatives

Qatar has "shown global leadership” by pledging 20% of its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) holdings towards International Monetary Fund’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) and Resilience Support Trust (RST) mechanisms for financial support, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said Wednesday.SDR is an international reserve asset created by the IMF to supplement other reserve assets of member countries. According to the IMF website, Qatar has SDR holdings of 985mn, according to Reuters."The pledge made today would allow the IMF to expand concessional lending to low income countries and expand lending to vulnerable-to-climate-shocks countries," Georgieva said in a video shared by the Qatar News Agency.Meanwhile, the official announcement between the State of Qatar, represented by the Ministry of Finance and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), titled State of Qatar’s SDRs commitment to the IMF, was issued Wednesday during the third edition of the Qatar Economic Forum."The announcement demonstrates State of Qatar’s leadership role in supporting least developed countries overcome economic shocks and challenges,” Ministry of Finance said in a statement."The global economy faces unique uncertainties, such as high inflation, increasing debt vulnerabilities, rising poverty and inequality, slowing growth and tighter financial conditions. These challenges require additional resources to be addressed, stemming notably from the rising south-to-south economy and the new growth opportunities it presents to the global business community."The State of Qatar recognises these rising needs and has continued to deliver on its commitment to strengthen multilateral action to address the current challenges with the aim to contribute to the new global growth story,” Ministry of Finance said.