From the Telegraph (Bold Tags added to highlight the shocker)….

The sums needed are beyond the limits of the IMF, which has already bailed out Hungary, Ukraine, Latvia, Belarus, Iceland, and Pakistan – and Turkey next – and is fast exhausting its own $200bn (€155bn) reserve. We are nearing the point where the IMF may have to print money for the world, using arcane powers to issue Special Drawing Rights.

Its $16bn rescue of Ukraine has unravelled. The country – facing a 12pc contraction in GDP after the collapse of steel prices – is hurtling towards default, leaving Unicredit, Raffeisen and ING in the lurch. Pakistan wants another $7.6bn. Latvia’s central bank governor has declared his economy “clinically dead” after it shrank 10.5pc in the fourth quarter. Protesters have smashed the treasury and stormed parliament.

Based on my dim understanding of what the special drawing rights are, I don’t think it is fair to characterize them as giving the IMF the ability to print money. But I am hardly an expert on the IMF so what do I know?

For what it is worth, here is the IMF description of Special Drawing Rights and here is the the IMF description of its lending constraints.