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BRICS to raise $100bn CRA from central bank reserves
September 6, 2013, 9:49 am

[Getty Images]

BRICS leaders have slammed the “stalling of IMF reforms” [Getty Images]

The $100 billion BRICS contingency reserve arrangement (CRA) will be raised from the member countries’ central bank reserves while capital for the group’s development bank will come from national budgets, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said Friday.

On Thursday, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa agreed to establish the bloc’s development fund with a capital of $50 billion and a reserve fund of $100 billion.

The reserve fund is being established “in order to promptly react to the situation on currency markets,” Storchak said, adding that central banks will be able to conduct swap operations if necessary.

It is designed to cushion short-term liquidity pressure and promote financial stability, Yi Gang, Deputy Head of the People’s Bank of China, said earlier.

The individual commitments of the five nations to the BRICS CRA will be as follows: China – $41 billion; Brazil, India, and Russia – $18 billion each; and South Africa – $5 billion.

Meanwhile, Vadim Lukov, the Kremlin’s special envoy to the G8, G20 and BRICS, said during Thursday’s press briefing that apart from the BRICS, other countries might have stakes in the New Development Bank, as well as some international organisations.

The BRICS leaders also slammed the “stalling of IMF reforms” at Thursday’s meet ahead of the opening session of the G20.

“BRICS Leaders also expressed their concern with the stalling of the International Monetary Fund reform process. They recalled the urgent need to implement the 2010 IMF Quota and Governance Reform, as well as to complete the next general quota review by January 2014 as agreed at the G20 Seoul Summit in order ensure the Fund’s credibility, legitimacy and effectiveness,” said a statement from the South African Presidency.

Claude Colart with inputs from Agencies