The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sharply increased its allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to India, in line with the country's existing quota in the fund.

       SDR is an alternate reserve currency floated by the IMF, which the member countries can freely exchange between themselves instead of relying on currency of any one particular country.

       A statement by the RBI said on Wednesday that the IMF has increased India's SDR quota to 12.57 billion, which is equivalent to $17.86 billion at the latest exchange rate, on August 23.