OREANDA-NEWS. BRICS’ contingent reserve arrangement (CRA) is now operational to deal with any short-term balance of payments pressures the grouping’s member nations face, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said.

CRA, established in 2015 by BRICS member nations Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, is a framework for the provision of support through liquidity and precautionary instruments in response to actual or potential short-term balance of payments pressures.

In his address to the meeting of BRICS Finance Ministers and heads of central banks, Jaitley announced the “CRA is now operational” and the central banks of the grouping’s members are “fully ready to carry out” the transactions, a media release said.

Jaitley and his BRICS counterparts are here to attend the annual fall meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

During meeting, BRICS ministers welcomed the proposal to formalise the setting up of a network of central banks research units that will support the working of CRA.

Jaitley also extended invitation to attend BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting to be held in Goa later this month.