The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sharply increased its allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to India, in line with the country's existing quota in the fund.

•  IMF has increased India's SDR quota to 12.57 billion, which is equivalent to $17.86 billion at the latest exchange rate, on August 23.
• The total SDR holdings of India now stand at SDR 13.66 billion (equivalent to around $19.41 billion at the latest exchange rate).
• This increase in SDR holdings will be reflected in the foreign exchange reserves (FER) data that will be published for the week ended August 27, 2021, the RBI said.

SDR is an alternate reserve currency floated by the IMF, which the member countries can freely exchange between themselves instead of relying on currency of any one particular country.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 190 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world. Its Headquarters is in Washington, DC, United States.