This paper outlines legal developments related to floating currencies, gold, and special drawing rights (SDRs) in the IMF. The Articles of the Fund require each member to establish a par value for its currency in terms of gold as a common denominator. Alternatively, the par value may be...

This paper examines legal developments in area of floating currencies, special drawing rights, and gold in the IMF. It highlights that the breakdown of the par value system of the original Articles of the IMF and the failure of the IMF's efforts to substitute a comparable system based on central...

This paper explores recent versions of older ideas for stabilizing the value of money based on an independently defined unit of account. The gold standard was such a system, but suffered from gold’s fluctuating relative value and the costly need to redeem money for gold. This paper explores...

The IMF Working Papers series is designed to make IMF staff research available to a wide audience. Almost 300 Working Papers are released each year, covering a wide range of theoretical and analytical topics, including balance of payments, monetary and fiscal issues, global liquidity, and...

This paper presents the fourth survey of certain changes in international and national monetary law and practice in relation to special drawing rights (SDRs), currencies, and gold. SDRs have characteristics that enable them to function as a supplement to existing reserve assets in the sense that...

This paper presents a draft Decision that reflects the guidance provided by the Board. In February, the Board endorsed three overarching principles to guide a new Decision: (i) no new obligations for members, together with confirmation that dialogue and persuasion are key pillars of surveillance;...