Press Release No. 95/75

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

December 29, 1995

A revision of the SDR valuation basket is undertaken every five years in accordance with the IMF's decision of September 17, 1980, unless the IMF's Executive Board decides otherwise. The weights of each currency in the revised valuation basket are 39 percent for the U.S. dollar, 21 percent for the deutsche mark, 18 percent for the Japanese yen, and 11 percent each for the French franc and pound sterling. These weights are reflected in the currency amounts of the revised valuation basket as listed above, calculated using the average exchange rates for these currencies over the three months ending December 29, 1995 in such a manner as to ensure that the value of the SDR, in terms of currencies, is the same on that day under both the revised and existing valuation baskets.

The SDR basket includes the currencies of the five member countries of the IMF with the largest exports of goods and services during the five-year period preceding the revision, which in the present revision is the period 1990-94. The weights of the currencies in the basket reflect their relative importance in international trade and finance during this period, and are determined on the basis of the value of exports of goods and services of the members issuing the currencies and the amounts of their currencies officially held by members of the IMF.

The weights for the five-year period, 1991-95, were 40 percent for the U.S. dollar, 21 percent for the deutsche mark, 17 percent for the Japanese yen, and 11 percent each for the French franc and pound sterling. The amounts of each currency in the SDR basket during 1991-95 were U.S. dollar 0.572, deutsche mark 0.453, Japanese yen 31.8, French franc 0.800, and pound sterling 0.0812.

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.