The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made an allocation of the special drawing rights (SDR) 12.57 billion (equivalent to around $17.86 billion at the latest exchange rate) to India. The total SDR holdings of India now stand at SDR 13.66 billion (equivalent to around $19.41 billion at the latest exchange rate). This increase in SDR holdings will be reflected in the foreign exchange reserves (FER) data that will be published for the week ended August 27, 2021, the RBI said.

SDR in the RBI’s forex reserves was $1.54 billion as on August 20, 2021. With the latest SDR allocation, the forex reserves are expected to cross $630 billion. SDR holdings is one of the components of the FER of a country. IMF makes the general SDR allocation to its members in proportion to their existing quotas in the IMF. The IMF board of governors had approved a general allocation of about SDR 456 billion on August 2, (effective from August 23) of which India’s share is SDR 12.57 billion.