China has top share of voting rights in swap arrangement

The nation has the highest share of voting rights for a contingency reserve arrangement worth $100 billion agreed to by the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations as it has pledged the largest amount of capital as part of its participation in the swap arrangement, said a representative of the nation's central bank in a statement on Thursday.[Special coverage]

The voting rights are linked to the committed capital, but 5 percent of the total voting rights are divided equally among the five countries.

China has 39.95 percent of the voting rights while Brazil, Russia and India each have 18.1 percent and South Africa has 5.75 percent.

Leaders of the five nations agreed upon how much capital each country should pledge based on factors including its stage of development, gross domestic product and foreign reserves, the PBOC representative said.

China committed $41 billion. Russia, Brazil and India committed $18 billion each and South Africa $5 billion.

If one of the member countries has international payments problems, the others will provide liquidity support in the form of currency swaps.

Each member country can apply to borrow a certain amount of the capital under the contingency reserve arrangement at any time. A standing committee will decide whether to approve or reject the application by voting, according to the PBOC.

China can borrow half of its committed capital at most. Brazil, Russia and India can borrow the same amount as their committed capital. South Africa can borrow twice as much as its committed capital.

The committed capital is a precautionary arrangement, which means no funds need to be paid in at present.

Apart from providing capital support to a BRICS country that is experiencing international payment difficulties, the five nations will also take preventive measures under the contingency reserve arrangement by using precautionary tools to stabilize financial market expectations and reduce uncertainties.

The PBOC representative said the contingency reserve arrangement by BRICS countries is "a milestone".