Ahead of next week’s IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings, The ONE Campaign warns that the global economic recovery is at risk unless advanced economies stop hoarding their Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). 

In August, G20 Countries received the majority of a new $650bn allocation of resources from the IMF, intended to support countries battling with the aftershocks of the pandemic. 

With Africa requiring $285 billion in additional financing through 2025 just to respond to the pandemic, and 97 million more people being pushed into extreme poverty last year, the anti-poverty organisation is urging the world’s richest countries to channel at least $100 billion of their SDRs to Low and Middle Income Countries by the end of the year – a mere quarter of their total allocation – as a first step in keeping their promise in supporting a sustainable global recovery.

Following France’s recent announcement to recycle 20% of its SDR allocation, The ONE Campaign is calling on all advanced economies to step up their support for Africa’s economic recovery and commit to an ambitious package to stop the growing economic divergence in pandemic recovery. 

David McNair, Executive Director of Global Policy at the ONE Campaign, said:

“Having secured the highest vaccination rates and spent trillions on their own economies, it’s a scandal if advanced economies keep hoarding the SDRs when the entire purpose the $650b allocation was to respond to the economic impact of the pandemic, particularly in the poorest countries that did not have the same leeway to spend trillions in stimulus. Denying the world’s most vulnerable people the chance to benefit from this windfall is further evidence that while the whole world is facing the same storm, we are not all in the same boat.” 

“This callous approach will not only prolong the life of the crisis, but also push millions of people into extreme poverty, hobble the recovery of our trading partners in emerging markets, and increase vulnerability to future crises for all of us, including climate and other health threats.

“We have an opportunity now to stop this economic divergence, but only if global finance chiefs are willing to leverage the tools on the table to support a robust economic package for vulnerable countries. ”

Notes to editors 

• The ONE Campaign has spent the last year campaigning for the $650bn SDR allocation. Now that it is in place ONE is calling advanced economies to recycle their Special Drawing Rights allocation to support vulnerable countries in need. Check out ONE’s latest policy brief titled “From allocation to action on SDRs”.