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Dear Reader,

More than a year into a crisis like no other, we have mobilized a response like no other.

As of the end of April, the IMF had approved loans to 86 countries totaling more than $110 billion since the onset of the pandemic—a record number. The August 2021 approval of a new allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) is another unprecedented action. At $650 billion, this is the largest allocation in the IMF’s history, and it will substantially boost the reserves and liquidity of the IMF’s member countries, without adding to their debt burdens. We are also exploring options for those with strong financial positions to voluntarily channel SDRs to vulnerable countries.

Together with the swift and extraordinary measures taken by governments and central banks, these actions helped put a floor under the global economy in the early stages of the crisis and provided the basis for the emerging recovery. But this recovery is on two tracks…