The IMF has agreed to boost the finances of low and middle-income countries to support their pandemic response though a $650bn allocation of its special drawing rights.

The allocation, which is a form of foreign reserve asset, is the equivalent of newly minted money that will be given to the fund’s 190 member countries roughly in proportion to their share of the global economy. About $275bn of the allocation will go to emerging and developing countries, with the rest earmarked for the world’s biggest economies.

“This is a historic decision — the largest SDR allocation in the history of the IMF and a shot in the arm for the global economy at a time of unprecedented crisis,” said Kristalina Georgieva, IMF managing director, in a statement on Monday.