Appeal to the U.S. Governor to IMF on SDR allocation to Republic of Belarus

The Honorable Janet Yellen
Secretary of the U.S. Treasury
U.S. Governor to the IMF

Dear Madam Treasury Secretary,

It came to our attention that the International Monetary Fund Executive Board is working on a new Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) allocation, and Belarus is neither excluded from the new allocation nor prevented from accessing its future SDR holdings. We hope the United States exercises its veto power and prevents access to SDRs by an illegitimate government the United States does not recognize.

The European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States all announced their non-recognition of Mr. Lukashenka and his government. Moreover, High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrell specifically stated that the EU does not recognize Lukashenka as the legitimate president of Belarus in the same manner that it does not recognize Nicolas Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

The IMF must consider this lack of government recognition and block Belarus from accessing its future SDR allocation until its member countries formally recognize a government in Belarus. We hope the IMF applies its rules regarding illegitimate governments consistently and transparently.

Sincerely,

Belarus Freedom Forum