(Bloomberg) -- Financial support to nations by the International Monetary Fund has surged to a record this year and the crisis lender has about $700 billion available to deploy as recession risks rise, according to its chief.  

Disbursements this year through Sept. 30 totaled 106.5 billion in special drawing rights, the equivalent of about $135.9 billion, according to data on the Washington-based lender’s website. That the most for any year on IMF records. 

In August and September, the fund sewed up or inched toward loan agreements with some of the most vulnerable nations -- Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Egypt and Chile -- after months of negotiations. With financial markets extremely volatile and less liquid amid elevated inflation and aggressive central bank tightening, fears of a global recession are rising and the dangers of debt defaults are increasing as interest rates rise.

“We still have slightly over $700 billion available,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told reporters Thursday. “We do need to step into our counter cyclical role proactively and I do encourage our members not to hesitate. If you think that you need a buffer, we’re here for you and that particularly applies to the innocent bystanders -- countries with strong fundamentals, hit by exogenous shocks, we have precautionary lending facilities for you.”

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