Special drawing rights : role of language
- Washington International Monetary Fund 1971
- 25 p.
On July 28, 1969 the amendment of the Articles of Agreement of ON the International Monetary Fund took effect, and on August 6, 1969 the Special Drawing Account came into being. On October 3, 1969 the Board of Governors decided that a total of special drawing rights equivalent to approximately $9.5 billion would be allocated during the period of three years beginning on January 1, 1970. An allocation equivalent to $3.414 billion was made to 104 participants on hat date, and another equivalent to $2.949 billion was made to 109 participants one year later. By that time, 110 of the 117 member states in the Fund had become participants in the Special Drawing Account.
In the provisions of the Articles that govern special drawing rights, the states that participate in the Special Drawing Account have a potentially powerful mechanism for affecting the volume of liquidity available to them and for helping to avoid economic stagnation and deflation in the world as well as excess demand and inflation.
International agreement on special drawing rights was the result of discussions and negotiations conducted mainly in the Fund and in the Group of Ten. These discussions and negotiations were inter related in various ways. The members of the Group of Ten are also members of the Fund.