The launch of the Centralized reserves of the five BRICS countries was announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitely. The CRA was established in 2015 by the five BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China.
It was created as an emergency drawing mechanism to meet immediate balance of payment problem. The CRA’s fund of $100 bn is a major reserve arrangement outside the Bretton Woods system. It is the IMF that holds the largest reserve arrangement under the BWS (Bretton Woods System) and it comprises reserves of 189 countries.
India, Brazil and Russia have contributed $18 billion to the CRA and will have an access limit of $18 bn each out of the total $100 reserves. China who contributes $41 billion will have an access limit of $21 billion.
Jaitely announced the functional starting of the CRA after the meeting of the BRICS Finance Ministers at Washington. At the meeting, the Finance Ministers also decided for networking of the groups’ central banks for initiating research on relevant issues.
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