On Tuesday, four groups of powerful Democratic legislators urged Janet Yellen, the United States Secretary of the Treasury, to support the issuance of 2T dollars in extra emergency reserves by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to assist impoverished nations still fighting with the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
In a letter seen by Reuters News, the Chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus told Yellen that America backing for the latest allocation of IMP reserves will provide the necessary support for millions of people in emerging nations, where inoculation rates lag far behind those in developed countries while underpinning international growth.
Moreover, the legislators greeted Yellen’s backing for a 650 Bn dollars allocation on IMF Special Drawing Rights – supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained by the IMF – in August this year and asked her to back a measure passed by the US House in July that called for the issuance of 1.5T additional Special Drawing Rights, valued at nearly 2T dollars.
As Biden observed, “one thing we learned” from 2009 is that “we can’t do too much here. We can do too little. We can do too little and sputter.” $2 trillion will ease major spikes in hunger, poverty and disease and provide resources for vaccinations abroad at no cost to the U.S. pic.twitter.com/uqPxf4hatP
— Keane Bhatt (@KeaneBhatt) November 24, 2021
New Issuance was 21-fold Greater
In addition, they wrote that issuance of additional 1.5T SDRs remains an essential tool for that administration’s attempts to crush the lethal coronavirus and Build Back Better plan, both at home and abroad.
A congressional adviser said that belligerent action was necessary to address the pandemic’s worldwide influences, especially for developing nations, and the caucuses want to guarantee support from Joe Biden’s government for extra SDRs, given the potential to promote racial equality.
The legislators’ letter reads that 2021’s IMF SDR allocation had been used thoroughly by numerous most susceptible countries globally, including Malawi, Ecuador, Chad, Ethiopia, Tunisia, and Lebanon. They added that the amount of ‘Special Drawing Rights’ consumed in ninety days since the issuance was 21-fold greater than what had been consumed in the initial 3-months after the past issuance in 2009.
Also, the legislators are seeking Treasury Secretary’s backing as they work to conclude appropriations for the next fiscal year. The US House measure must still need passing from the United States Senate.
Source: Web
The International Monetary Fund has assessed that low-incoming nations would need some 2.5T dollars to cover their aiding needs following the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic disruption it has instigated.
