The U.S. House of Representatives today passed Rep. French Hill’s (AR-02), H.R. 6899, the Russia and Belarus SDR Exchange Prohibition Act of 2022, in a bipartisan vote of 417-02 Rep. Hill’s legislation would prohibit the Treasury Secretary from exchanging dollars for International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Drawing Right (SDR) assets held by Russia or Belarus and would require the Secretary of Treasury to push IMF member countries to deny these transactions as well.
“For over two years, I warned Treasury and the Biden Administration about the flaws of the IMF's SDR policy. They're not targeted, there is no accountability, and SDRs provide aid to countries that support genocide, terrorism, and now, illegally invade a sovereign nation. They did not heed those warnings, which is why we find ourselves here today - Russia alone holds over $25 billion of these IMF reserve assets, $17 billion of which the IMF gifted to Putin last year," said Rep. Hill. "Now, more than ever, it is imperative we don't allow these SDRs to be used to provide Russia and Belarus a loophole around Western sanctions to fund their illegal war in Ukraine. Passing this bill will assist in our efforts to exert maximum pressure on Russia and send a message to countries like China that they should not throw Vladimir Putin an SDR lifeline. I thank Senators Rick Scott and Joe Manchin for introducing the companion legislation in the Senate."
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