Special drawing right (SDR)

Reserve asset created by the International Monetary Fund and defined in terms of a basket of five currencies (American dollar, euro, yen, yuan and British pound). New assets can be created at times of crisis, as they were in 2009, during the financial crisis, and in 2021, during the pandemic. The SDRs were distributed to countries, based on their shares in the IMF, thereby boosting their foreign exchange reserves and improving global liquidity.