Press Release No. 00/87

Press Release: IMF Determines New Currency Amounts for SDR Valuation Basket

December 29, 2000

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced today the revised amounts for the four currencies that determine the value of the SDR. Effective January 1, 2001, the value of the SDR will be the sum of the values of the following amounts of each currency:

The decision on the amount of each currency in the SDR valuation basket is the final step implementing the results of the latest review of the method of valuing the SDR (see Press Release No. 00/55). Previously, the IMF had determined that the composition of the SDR basket and the weights assigned each currency would be 45 percent for the U.S. dollar, 29 percent for the euro, 15 percent for the Japanese yen, and 11 percent for the pound sterling. The precise amounts of each currency are determined so that the value of the new and existing SDR baskets are the same on the last working day (December 29, 2000) before the new basket comes into effect (January 1, 2001) (see SDR Valuation¹ and New SDR Basket²). The actual share of each currency in the valuation of the SDR on any particular day depends on the market values on that day of the fixed amounts of each currency in the basket.

The new SDR interest rate, which will become effective on January 8, 2001, will reflect the new valuation basket as well as the exchange rates and interest rates that prevail at the time of each weekly determination of the interest rate on the SDR. A discrete change in the level of the SDR interest rate may be expected on January 8, 2001, reflecting the changes in the shares of currencies in the SDR valuation basket and the differences in the interest rates on each financial instrument in the basket.