IMF congratulates BRICS for new fund, offers help

BRASILIA (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday congratulated the five BRICS countries for creating a new reserves fund that intends to challenge Western dominance in the global lender.

The IMF's managing director, Christine Lagarde, said the lender would like to work with the BRICS in the new fund, which pools together $100 billion in reserves from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

BRICS leaders on Tuesday launched the fund and a joint bank of the same size in a bold step to press for a bigger say in the global financial order centered on the IMF and the World Bank.

The fund, known as Contingent Reserve Arrangement, aims to help BRICS countries with balance of payment difficulties.

"IMF staff would be delighted to work with the BRICS team dedicated to this project with a view to reinforcing the cooperation among all parts of the international safety net," Lagarde said in a statement.

China, holder of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves, will contribute the bulk of the reserves pool, or $41 billion. Brazil, India and Russia will chip in $18 billion each and South Africa $5 billion.

(Reporting by Alonso Soto; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)