Enhancing the role of the SDR

In the aftermath of the 2008 crisis many proposals were raised to reform the functioning of the international monetary system. Some of these proposals concerned the deepening of the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) as a reserve asset in order to provide liquidity in times of financial turmoil. It was even put forward that regular SDR allocations could be useful to support the develop-ment of low-income countries regardless of the phase of the business cycle in which the global economy may find itself. Some of these proposals were gathered in the Stiglitz Report (Stiglitz, 2009). Other contributions have been made by the IMF (2011) itself. The debate faded later on with more urgent problems like the euro zone crisis and then with the progressive recovery of the world economy. Since the election of Donald Trump in the United States and the decline of the multilateralism, these proposals could appear as offset. But the likely return of a new world downturn and the depletion of the traditional tools of economic policy (both at the fiscal and monetary levels) could give new impetus to such coordinated actions.