2.1.3. IMF Finances

The money for lending comes from the member countries primarily through their payment of quotas. Each member country of the IMF is assigned a quota, based broadly on its relative position in the world economy. Quotas are denominated in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), the IMF’s unit of account.

Current quota formula is weighted average of GDP (50%), Openness (30%), Economic Variability (15%) and International Reserves (5%). The capital subscriptions or quota is now made up of 25 p.c. of its quota in SDRs or widely accepted currencies (such as the US dollar, euro, the yen or the pound sterling) instead of gold and 75 p.c. in country’s own currency.