BRIC to discuss IMF SDRs use as global unit

[Horn]

Published on Fri, Apr 09, 2010 at 16:00 | Updated at Fri, Apr 09, 2010 at 18:16 | Source : Reuters


The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China will discuss the possibility of using IMF special depository receipts (SDRs) as global currency at a summit in Brasilia this month, Kremlin's top economic aide said.

"As for the IMF SDRs, a global currency, we will discuss that at the BRIC summit and at the IMF," Arkady Dvorkovich told a news conference.

"We continue to think that this instrument has good potential, although our G8 partners have not agreed with this yet. Our BRIC partners, including China, support us more in this. It is possible we will discuss a common position (of the BRIC countries)."

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/bric-to-discuss-imf-sdrs-use-as-global-unit_450978.html

[DMac]

April 9, 2010

1 USD =
0.659367 SDR

[DMac]

(Some highlights from the IMF statistics, as of March 31st 2010)

Full chart of all countries here:
http://www.imf.org/external/np/fin/tad/extcred2.aspx?date1key=2010-03-31&reportdate=2010-03-31




General Resources Account (GRA)
Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT)



IMF Credit Outstanding for all members as of March 31, 2010

(in SDRs)


Member GRA Purchases PRGT Totals

Belarus, Republic of 2,269,517,000 0 2,269,517,000
Hungary 7,637,000,000 0 7,637,000,000
Pakistan 4,169,335,000 577,146,000 4,746,481,000
Romania 8,263,000,000 0 8,263,000,000
Turkey 5,076,335,686 0 5,076,335,686
Ukraine 7,000,000,000 0 7,000,000,000

Grand totals for all in the list:
Total 41,064,638,204 5,147,326,440 46,211,964,644

[DMac]

http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2010/pr1088.htm

IMF Signs SDR 500 Million Borrowing Agreement with the Government of Canada to Support Lending to Low-Income Countries
Press Release No. 10/88
March 12, 2010

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), as Trustee of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), has signed a borrowing agreement with the Government of Canada, through which Canada will provide the PGRT with SDR 500 million (about US$769 million) in new loan resources for low-income countries.

This agreement, signed on March 5, 2010, expands the IMF’s capacity to help low-income countries hit hard by the current global crisis, and increases the loan resources available for the recently reformed concessional lending facilities. Following the Executive Board’s approval of these reforms in July 2009, the Managing Director has launched a fund-raising campaign seeking SDR 9 billion in new bilateral loan resources and SDR 0.2-0.4 billion in bilateral subsidy contributions (see Press Release No. 09/268).

[DMac]

http://www.imf.org/external/np/fin/tad/exfin2.aspx?memberkey1=1020&date1Key=2010-03-31

United States: Financial Position in the Fund
as of March 31, 2010


III. SDR Department: SDR Million %Allocation
Net cumulative allocation 35,315.68 100.00
Holdings 36,882.24 104.44

[Horn]

Looks like the BRIC are setting their own stage.

In a first, IBSA, BRIC nations to dwell on world affairs


NEW DELHI: The Iran nuclear question will dominate discussions at the nuclear summit in Washington next week. Significantly, and for the first time, it will also be a major standalone issue to be debated by leaders of the top emerging economies later in the week (April 15-16) when the IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) and BRIC (Brazil-Russia-India-China) groupings meet in Brasilia.

In a clear sign that global power is shifting positions, India, Russia, Brazil, South Africa and China will take time off from collective navel-gazing to debating global issues of peace and security. Apart from signalling a greater confidence in each other, the group is also showing a willingness to increase its international footprint, which may or may not always coincide with the US-EU stand on things.

Parvati Sen-Vyas, secretary in MEA, told journalists on Friday that Shivshankar Menon, national security advisor, will discuss international security issues with his counterparts as well as hold his own set of bilateral meetings in Brazil, broadening the mandate of these meetings.

While Russia and China have been closely involved with the Iran question in the UN Security Council as P-5 members, India has had a different history, because it has now voted three times against Iran at the IAEA, leading to a distinct cooling between Tehran and New Delhi.

For China, too, the debates in Brasilia could provide useful cover for its ultimate decision on Iran in the UNSC, where it has already indicated that it will restart "discussions" with the US, which desperately wants a new sanctions regime for Tehran. It is unlikely that BRIC-IBSA will advocate further sanctions on Iran though.

On the Middle East, while Russia is a member of the Quartet, the views of India and other countries will show whether there is another approach to solving the world's longest bilateral crisis. The Israel-Palestine stand-off will also be a significant part of the IBSA discussions. Although India was unconscionably late in responding to the Haiti earthquake, the BRIC-IBSA countries plan to increase support to rebuilding the poor Central American nation.

For India, these exercises are significant. Traditionally not comfortable with articulating its foreign policy beyond the glaringly obvious "we-want-peaceful-resolution" type language, India is increasingly being called upon to take sides, and come up with clearly nuanced foreign policy formulations that balance both its own interests and its international responsibilities. And from January, India will have a two-year stint as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and could be called upon to vote on the Iran issue.

However, there will be certain no-go areas for these countries. The US and EU may be pushing hard for China to revalue its currency but this is not on the agenda at the BRIC-IBSA meetings, officials confirmed. Instead, the countries will be trying to work out better energy deals for themselves since Russia and Brazil are major energy producers while India and China are major consumers.

http://toi.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/In-a-first-IBSA-BRIC-nations-to-dwell-on-world-affairs-/articleshow/5779582.cms