Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of rechannelling (a) 10, (b) 25, (c) 50 and (d) 100 per cent of Special Drawing Rights received this year on (i) public sector current spending and (ii) public sector net debt aggregates.

The recent $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.

SDR channelling does not directly affect public sector current spending or public sector net debt.