Economics
Russia Needs China's Help to Turn Its IMF Reserves Into Cash for War
- Russia currently holds $24 billion in SDR reserve assets
- Nation’s monetary authority shunned in U.S., Europe, Japan
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Russia’s narrow path for turning its $24 billion in International Monetary Fund reserves into cash hinges on Chinese authorities and may face additional constraints as it looks for resources to defend the ruble and fund its war effort.
All members of the IMF receive an allocation of reserve assets, known as special drawing rights, that’s roughly proportional to the size of a country’s economy. Those assets can be exchanged for five currencies deemed “freely usable” by the IMF: dollars, euros, pounds, yen and, as of 2016, yuan.