Contingent Reserve Arrangement – one of the most important practical initiatives of BRICS

On 9 April, a Russian Government Meeting was held to consider the draft law on ratifying the Agreement on Establishing the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement.

As Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in his opening remarks, BRICS countries would be able to use the Arrangement's resources to support their national financial systems and, therefore, to stabilise their economies.

"This is an important step towards the improvement of our partnership with BRICS. I hope it won't just strengthen our economic cooperation, but also make the BRICS countries more independent of the current international financial situation and problems in international financial institutions," he said.

The arrangement totals $100 billion, with China's share amounting to $41 billion, South Africa's $5 billion, and Brazil's, India's and Russia's $18 billion each. Any of the parties has the right to turn at any time to the other participants to request funds. The management of this financial instrument is vested in the Board of Governors, the Standing Committee and the Coordinator, whose functions will be performed by the country presiding over BRICS.

According to the Prime Minister, Head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina will represent Russia within this financial institution.