Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish an assessment of the impact of his receipt of IMF Special Drawing Rights on public sector net debt.

The historic $650bn allocation of IMF SDRs has provided much needed liquidity for vulnerable countries, freeing up resources to pay for crucial needs such as vaccines and food imports. The UK, together with other G20 countries, have called on the IMF to work quickly with the membership to explore options for countries with strong external positions to voluntarily channel a portion of their allocated SDRs, to magnify the impact of the allocation and further support resilient and sustainable recoveries in vulnerable countries.

The OBR reported the fiscal impact of the SDR allocation in its October 2021 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. This noted that the SDR allocation results in an equal increase in both the UK's assets and liabilities and has no effect on wider balance sheet aggregates.

The channeling of SDRs through lending to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) does not directly affect public sector net debt.