Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on the (a) immediate needs of vulnerable countries and (b) potential merits of disbursing the up to £4bn in Special Drawing Rights he announced at the IMF’s annual meeting to support those countries.

At the IMF’s Annual Meetings in October, the Chancellor committed to channelling up to 4bn Special Drawing Rights (SDR) of the UK’s new allocation, starting with an additional loan of SDR 1bn to the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust which provides zero interest loans to low-income countries.

The Chancellor has also welcomed proposals for the IMF’s new Resilience and Sustainability Trust which would redirect SDR towards supporting vulnerable countries in addressing climate change and other long-term structural challenges.