Public funds for private enterprise: The international finance corporation 1

In a recent article Helleiner 1974: 351] argues that the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) scheme has operated in such a way as to transfer real resources from developed countries (DCs) to less developed countries (LDCs). Helleiner attempts to substantiate this claim empirically by examining the net acquisition of SDRs which has been made by DCs, and the net use of SDRs which has been made by LDCs since the SDR facility was established. In this article it is suggested that, although the SDR agreement has, indeed, served to create an ‘informal’ SDR/aid link, net use data taken at face value do not necessarily reflect the extent or nature of this informal link.