# IMF SDR Valuation Weights, SDRi Rate & Reserve Accounting

> Master IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDR) five-currency basket valuation weights (USD 43.38%, EUR 29.31%, CNY 12.28%, JPY, GBP), weekly SDRi math, and FX swaps.

Canonical: https://fxmacrowire.com/wire/imf-sdr-valuation-weights-sdri-rate-reserve-accounting
Last updated: 2026-11-14T23:36:12.209Z

**Publication:** FXMacro Wire
**Category:** Sovereign FX Reserves Intervention
**Published:** 2026-11-13T23:10:25.915Z
**Author:** Henrik Lindqvist, CFA (CFA, MSc in International Monetary Economics (LSE))
**Reviewer:** Not recorded

## Answer-first summary

Comprising roughly SDR 660 billion (~$880B) of unconditional global reserve liquidity following the historic 2021 general allocation, IMF Special Drawing Rights price daily off a five-currency fixed-unit basket and weekly 3-month T-Bill SDRi rate.

## Key takeaways

- 1 SDR equals a frozen 5-year physical currency basket (0.57813 USD + 0.37379 EUR + 1.0993 CNY + 13.452 JPY + 0.08087 GBP) valued daily at 12:00 London time (~$1.3301).
- Because EUR (2.15%), CNY (1.45%), and JPY (0.55%) T-Bills yield far less than US T-Bills (3.82%), the composite SDRi rate (2.81%) sits >100 bps below USD SOFR.
- Central banks incur zero net interest or FX exposure when SDR Holdings match Allocations, but pay floating SDRi permanently once SDRs are sold for cash USD via VTA market-makers.
- Every IMF sovereign bailout loan (EFF/SBA) prices off floating SDRi plus lending margins and denominates principal in the 5-currency SDR basket.

## Related financial entities

- **EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis & ECB-Fed Rate Differential** (EURUSD-ESTR-SOFR) — product: EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis & ECB-Fed Rate Differential (EURUSD-ESTR-SOFR) refers to an institutional financial benchmark and regulatory standard monitored by ECB / Federal Reserve (EU), currently calibrated at -187.5 bps (Policy Rate Spread) as of October 2026.
- **IMF COFER $13.22 Trillion Sovereign FX Reserve Allocation** (IMF-COFER-RESERVES) — product: IMF COFER $13.22 Trillion Sovereign FX Reserve Allocation (IMF-COFER-RESERVES) refers to an institutional financial benchmark and regulatory standard monitored by International Monetary Fund (INTL), currently calibrated at 56.70% (USD Reserve Share) as of October 2026.
- **USD/CNH Offshore Renminbi Forward Points & PBOC Daily Fixing** (USDCNH-PBOC-FIX) — product: USD/CNH Offshore Renminbi Forward Points & PBOC Daily Fixing (USDCNH-PBOC-FIX) refers to an institutional financial benchmark and regulatory standard monitored by CFETS / PBOC (CN), currently calibrated at 7.1250 (Central Parity Rate) as of October 2026.

## Analysis

Following the International Monetary Fund's historic $650 billion general allocation in August 2021, **~SDR 660 billion (~$880 billion)** of Special Drawing Rights sit permanently on the asset and liability ledgers of 190 central banks alongside FinDB's [$13.22T IMF COFER Securities Reserves](/index/imf-cofer-reserves-imf-cofer-13-22-trillion-sovereign-fx-reserve-allocation). Yet few private FX strategists understand how SDRs actually work: **an SDR is neither a currency nor a direct claim on the IMF**, but a potential claim on the "freely usable currencies" (USD, EUR, CNY, JPY, GBP) of Voluntary Trading Arrangement (VTA) central banks, priced daily off **fixed currency unit amounts** and remunerated weekly at the **SDR Interest Rate (SDRi)**!

## Fixed Currency Units vs Drifting Market Percentage Weights (2022-2027 Quinquennial Basket)

Every five years, the IMF Executive Board resets target **percentage weights** for the five SDR basket currencies based on 5-year global export shares and financial-use indicators—most recently lifting the **US dollar to 43.38%** and **Chinese renminbi ([CNY](/index/usdcnh-pboc-fix-usd-cnh-offshore-renminbi-forward-points-pboc-daily-fixing)) to 12.28%**, alongside **Euro ([EUR 29.31%](/index/eurusd-estr-sofr-eur-usd-cross-currency-basis-ecb-fed-rate-differential))**, **Japanese yen (7.59%)**, and **British pound (7.44%)**.

Crucially, however, on the August 1, 2022 transition date, those target percentages were converted into **FIXED physical currency amounts inside 1.00000 SDR**:
- **0.57813 USD + 0.37379 EUR + 1.0993 CNY + 13.452 JPY + 0.080870 GBP = 1 SDR**!

Because those unit quantities remain **frozen for five years until the 2027 review**, **daily spot exchange-rate fluctuations cause actual currency weights inside the SDR to drift continuously** (for instance, yen depreciation pushed JPY's realized market weight down near ~6.2% while lifting USD past ~44.5%!). Every noon in London, the Bank of England supplies spot exchange rates to the IMF to publish the official daily **USD/SDR** rate (~$1.33-$1.35 per SDR).

![IMF SDR daily currency basket valuation, weekly Friday SDRi T-Bill interest calculation, and VTA FX conversion](/api/figure?type=flow&title=IMF%20Special%20Drawing%20Rights%20%28SDR%29%20Valuation%20%26%20VTA%20Conversion%20Engine&subtitle=How%20fixed%205-currency%20units%20set%20daily%20USD%2FSDR%20value%20%26%20how%20Voluntary%20Trading%20Arrangements%20turn%20SDRs%20into%20cash%20USD&steps=5-CCY%20Unit%20Basket%3A%3A0.57813%20USD%20%2B%200.37379%20EUR%20%2B%201.0993%20CNY%20%2B%2013.452%20JPY%20%2B%200.08087%20GBP%7C12%2000%20LDN%20BoE%20Fix%3A%3ABoE%20spot%20fixings%20compute%20daily%20USD%2FSDR%20exchange%20rate%20%28~%241.34%29%7CFriday%20SDRi%20Reset%3A%3AWeighted%203M%20UST%2C%20Eurozone%20AAA%2C%20CGB%2C%20JGB%20%26%20UK%20T-Bill%20yields%7CVTA%20Cash%20Exchange%3A%3AEM%20central%20bank%20sells%20SDRs%20to%20ECB%2FFed%2FPBOC%20VTA%20for%20T%2B2%20cash%20USD!&metrics=GLOBAL%20SDR%20STOCK%3A%3ASDR%20660.7B%3A%3A~%24885B%20Reserve%20Liquidity%7CUSD%20TARGET%20WEIGHT%3A%3A43.38%25%3A%3A%2B1.65%25%20Jump%20in%20Last%20Review%7CCNY%20TARGET%20WEIGHT%3A%3A12.28%25%3A%3A%233%20Currency%20Ahead%20of%20JPY%2FGBP%7CSDRi%20FLOOR%20RULE%3A%3A0.050%25%20Min%3A%3A5%20bps%20Statutory%20Zero%20Floor)

## Zero Net Interest When Holdings Equal Allocations—Until a Country Sells SDRs!

Here is the balance-sheet magic explored across our [IMF COFER reserves hub](/wire/imf-cofer-reserves-sterilized-fx-intervention-guide) and [IMF ARA reserve adequacy models](/wire/imf-ara-reserve-adequacy-metric-external-debt-buffers):
- Every IMF member carries both an **SDR Allocation (Liability)** and **SDR Holdings (Asset)**.
- The IMF charges **SDRi** quarterly on 100% of a country's Allocation, and **pays the exact same SDRi** on 100% of its Holdings!
- Therefore, **as long as a central bank holds 100% of its allocated SDRs untouched** (as practiced by [ECB Eurosystem members](/regulators/european-central-bank-160), [DNB Netherlands](/regulators/de-nederlandsche-bank-162), [NBB Belgium](/regulators/national-bank-of-belgium-371), [Bank of Latvia](/brokers/bank-of-latvia), and [Central Bank of Malta](/brokers/central-bank-of-malta)), **net interest cost is $0.00 AND net currency exposure is ZERO**!

However, the moment an emerging-market central bank **converts SDR 5 billion into hard cash US dollars** via the Voluntary Trading Arrangement (VTA) market to pay external debt or intervene in spot FX:
1. Its SDR Holdings drop SDR 5B below its SDR Allocation—forcing it to pay **floating weekly SDRi interest (~3.25%-3.65%)** on that SDR 5B deficit permanently!
2. Simultaneously, it becomes **short the 5-currency SDR basket** against domestic revenues!

| SDR Basket Currency | 2022-2027 Review Target Weight | Frozen Currency Units per 1 SDR | Representative 3M SDRi Yield Input | VTA Market Maker Role |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| US Dollar (`USD`) | 43.38% | 0.57813 USD | 3-Month US Treasury Bill (`~3.82%`) | US Treasury ESF bilateral VTA |
| Euro (`EUR`) | 29.31% | 0.37379 EUR | 3-Month Eurozone AAA Spot Curve (`~2.15%`) | [ECB](/regulators/european-central-bank-160) + 15 Eurosystem NCB VTAs |
| Chinese Renminbi (`CNY`) | 12.28% | 1.09930 CNY | 3-Month China CCDC Gov Benchmark (`~1.45%`) | People’s Bank of China CNY/USD VTA |
| Japanese Yen (`JPY`) | 7.59% | 13.4520 JPY | 3-Month Japan Treasury Discount Bill (`~0.55%`) | Japan MoF / BoJ VTA desk |
| Pound Sterling (`GBP`) | 7.44% | 0.08087 GBP | 3-Month UK Treasury Bill (`~3.72%`) | HM Treasury / Bank of England VTA |

## Exact Daily USD/SDR Valuation & Weekly SDRi Interest Rate Formulas

Every Friday, the IMF computes **SDRi** by multiplying each currency's fixed unit amount (U_i), its Friday noon spot USD exchange rate (S_{i,USD}), and its 3-month sovereign T-Bill bond-equivalent yield (y_{3M,i}), divided by the USD value of 1 SDR (subject to a 0.050% floor):

```formula
USD_per_SDR_t = 0.57813 + (0.37379 * EURUSD) + (1.0993 / USDCNY) + (13.452 / USDJPY) + (0.08087 * GBPUSD)
Actual_Weight_i = ( U_i * S_{i,USD} ) / USD_per_SDR_t
SDRi_t = max( 0.050% , Sum_{i=1..5} [ Actual_Weight_i * y_{3M_TBill,i} ] )

Worked Live Daily SDR Valuation & Friday SDRi Calculation:
 Spot Fixings: EUR/USD = 1.0850, USD/CNY = 7.1400, USD/JPY = 152.00, GBP/USD = 1.2850
 Component USD Values: USD = $0.57813 | EUR = $0.40556 | CNY = $0.15396 | JPY = $0.08850 | GBP = $0.10392
 Exact Official Rate: 1 SDR = $1.33007 USD (Realized Weights: USD 43.47%, EUR 30.49%, CNY 11.58%, JPY 6.65%, GBP 7.81%)
 Weighted SDRi = 0.4347(3.82%) + 0.3049(2.15%) + 0.1158(1.45%) + 0.0665(0.55%) + 0.0781(3.72%) = 2.811%!
```

![Realized market weights versus 2022 statutory target weights across the five IMF SDR basket currencies](/api/figure?type=bars&title=IMF%20SDR%20Basket%20Weights%20%26%203-Month%20T-Bill%20SDRi%20Contribution&subtitle=Lower%20EUR%2C%20CNY%20%26%20JPY%20T-Bill%20rates%20keep%20floating%20SDRi%20%28~2.81%25%29%20over%20100%20bps%20cheaper%20than%20USD%20SOFR!&steps=USD%20%2843.47%25%20Wt%29%3A%3A3.82%25%20UST%20Bill%20contributes%20%2B166.1%20bps%20%2859%25%20of%20total%20SDRi!%29%7CEUR%20%2830.49%25%20Wt%29%3A%3A2.15%25%20Euro%20AAA%20Bill%20contributes%20%2B65.6%20bps%20to%20composite%20rate%7CCNY%20%2811.58%25%20Wt%29%3A%3A1.45%25%20China%20CGB%203M%20pulls%20SDRi%20lower%20%28%2B16.8%20bps%29%7CGBP%20%2B%20JPY%20%2814.46%25%29%3A%3AGBP%20%28%2B29.1%20bps%29%20%2B%20low-rate%20JPY%20%28%2B3.7%20bps%29%20round%20out%202.81%25&metrics=COMPOSITE%20SDRi%3A%3A2.811%25%3A%3A~104%20bps%20Below%20US%20SOFR!%7CUSD%2FSDR%20RATE%3A%3A%241.3301%3A%3A12%3A00%20London%20BoE%20Fixing%7CIMF%20GRA%20SURCHARGE%3A%3ASDRi%20%2B%20100bp%3A%3ABase%20IMF%20Bailout%20Loan%20Rate%7CNEXT%20BASKET%20REVIEW%3A%3AMid-2027%3A%3AQuinquennial%20Re-Weighting)

## Hedging Sovereign IMF Loan Exposure ("SDRi + Margin") in Private Swap Markets

Notice why **SDRi (2.81%)** matters intensely for emerging-market debt sustainability and private FX swap desks ([Blocksize Capital](/brokers/blocksize-capital), [BGK](/brokers/bgk)): **every IMF Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF) sovereign loan charges floating SDRi + 100 bps base margin (+ surcharges)**! When an indebted sovereign borrows SDR 10 billion from the IMF while earning 80% of its export revenues in US dollars, its public debt office uses **weighted 5-currency FX forward overlays** (30.5% EUR, 11.6% CNH, 6.7% JPY, 7.8% GBP) to neutralize non-dollar SDR currency mismatches!

## Looking Ahead to the 2027 IMF Quinquennial SDR Basket Review

As institutional strategists look toward the next **quinquennial IMF SDR valuation review in mid-2027**, two quantitative inputs will drive currency weight shifts: five-year global goods-and-services export shares (2022-2026) and composite financial-use scores ([COFER reserve shares](/index/imf-cofer-reserves-imf-cofer-13-22-trillion-sovereign-fx-reserve-allocation), BIS OTC FX turnover, and international debt securities, alongside [BIS SDR-denominated reserve instruments](/wire/bis-medium-term-instruments-sovereign-fx-reserve-swaps)). While USD and EUR weights remain anchored at the top of the basket, renminbi cross-border trade settlement gains versus capital-account convertibility constraints will govern whether CNY expands beyond 12.28% across our [sovereign FX reserves & intervention hub](/topics/sovereign-fx-reserves-intervention).

## Frequently asked questions

### Can private hedge funds or commercial banks hold and trade IMF Special Drawing Rights?

No. Only the IMF, its 190 sovereign member states, and ~20 prescribed official institutions (such as the ECB, BIS, and regional development banks) can legally hold SDRs; private desks replicate SDRs using a 5-currency spot/forward basket.

### How does an emerging-market central bank turn SDRs into spendable US dollars?

Through Voluntary Trading Arrangements (VTAs) coordinated by the IMF, over 30 strong-reserve central banks (including the ECB, NY Fed/US Treasury, BoJ, BoE, and PBOC) buy SDRs and wire T+2 cash USD or EUR at the official London noon fixing.

### Why do actual currency percentages inside the SDR differ from the IMF’s 2022 target weights?

Target weights (e.g., 43.38% USD, 7.59% JPY) are only exact on the five-year transition day; afterward, unit amounts are frozen, so currencies that depreciate (like JPY) shrink in realized basket percentage until the 2027 review.

### How did higher G10 interest rates impact IMF borrower countries via SDRi?

Between 2021 and 2024, the weekly SDRi rate jumped from its 0.05% floor past 4.1% before easing toward ~2.81%, sharply increasing quarterly interest bills for sovereigns borrowing under IMF Extended Fund Facilities.


## Source URLs

- https://www.imf.org/en/About/Factsheets/Sheets/2023/special-drawing-rights-sdr
- https://www.imf.org/external/np/fin/data/rms_sdrv.aspx
- https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/scpops/ecb.op289~8d8c2a6b5f.en.pdf

## Citation

- APA: Henrik Lindqvist, CFA. (2026). IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDR): Basket Weights, SDRi Rate & FX Accounting. FXMacro Wire. https://fxmacrowire.com/wire/imf-sdr-valuation-weights-sdri-rate-reserve-accounting
- Canonical article: [IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDR): Basket Weights, SDRi Rate & FX Accounting](https://fxmacrowire.com/wire/imf-sdr-valuation-weights-sdri-rate-reserve-accounting)
- Site research index: [FXMacro Wire](https://fxmacrowire.com/llms-full.txt)