IMF Completes Distribution Of $250 Billion SDRs To Member Countries.

"International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Friday it has distributed $250 billion in special drawing rights (SDR) to member countries, fulfilling part of the G20's plan to fight the global crisis. The SDR issuance is aimed at injecting liquidity into the global financial system by increasing the foreign currency reserves of the 186 countries that belong to the IMF. The fund's quasi-currency - made up of a basket of the dollar, euro, yen and pound - can be either held as a reserve or traded between countries for one of those currencies...." [Dow Jones (8/28)/Factiva]

Xinhua adds that "...as an action to bolster its members' reserves, the allocation will be followed by an additional, albeit much smaller, allocation of $33 billion on September 9. With the two allocations totaling roughly $283 billion, the outstanding stock of SDRs would increase nearly 10-fold to total about $316 billion.... About $110 billion of the combined allocations will go to emerging market and developing countries, including over $20 billion to low-income countries...." [Xinhua (8/28)/Factiva]

AP writes that "...Mexico's central bank says it will receive about $4 billion in IMF SDRs, to add to the country's foreign reserves...." [Associated Press (8/28)/Factiva]

While, Interfax adds that "...the IMF has transferred SDRs worth $1.59 billion to Ukraine...the fund said in a press release...." [Interfax (Ukraine, 8/28)/Factiva]