ICYMI: Biden Administration Confirms: No-Strings-Attached Money to Russia and China
Washington,
March 23, 2021
Washington, D.C. – Today, in response to a question by U.S. Congressman French Hill (AR-02), U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen confirmed that the Treasury was in fact considering sending billions of dollars to dictatorships like China, Russia, Iran, and Venezuela through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation. In his questioning, Rep. Hill asked, “Can you at least certify for us today that China won’t receive billions of dollars in this no-strings-attached liquidity through the SDR allocation?” to which Secretary Yellen replied, “The funds are allocated in accordance with the quotas that each country has at the IMF… and so China will be, if this allocation goes through, will receive resources.” Secretary Yellen made a similar confirmation regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom President Biden recently referred to as a “killer.” Rep. Hill’s questioning comes on the heels of a letter Rep. Hill sent last week to the ambassadors to the United States of the six other nations of the G7 outlining his concerns following recent news reports suggesting that the G7 is discussing a $650 billion SDR allocation. A $650 billion allocation would give China access to more than $41 billion in hard currency and Russia more than $17 billion. Additionally, Iran, the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, would gain access to nearly $5 billion.
SDRs are a monetary reserve currency created by the International Monetary Fund that operates as a supplement to the existing reserved of IMF member countries. Last week, the G7 agreed to support the first expansion of the IMF reserves, including a significant increase of the volume of SDRs. Recent commentary by Rep. Hill regarding SDRs:
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