Journal Article

Replacing the dollar with special drawing rights--will it work this time?

Abstract: The head of China?s central bank is calling for countries to replace the U.S. dollar as an international reserve currency with something called SDRs. Created by the IMF way back in 1969 for that purpose, SDRs never caught on. While SDRs may be declared an official international reserve asset today, they are not likely to become the world?s key international currency anytime soon. In the meantime, countries in China?s current predicament--acquiring more dollars than they think prudent--could avoid such risks in the future by allowing their currencies to appreciate.

Keywords: Special drawing rights; Bank of China;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Part of Series: Economic Commentary

Publication Date: 2009

Issue: Mar

Order Number: 1