WASHINGTON, July 16 -- Chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde Wednesday congratulated the establishment of a new reserve arrangement by the BRICS countries, expressing her will to work with them to ensure global financial stability.

In her message to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, the IMF managing director said IMF would be delighted to work with the BRICS team dedicated to the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA), with a view to reinforcing the cooperation.

"The IMF has a very strong relationship with all the BRICS nations, which are key members of this institution. We look forward to further strengthening our collaboration," she said.

The emerging-market bloc of BRICS, or Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, on Tuesday announced the establishment of the CRA in a bid to forge a closer and stronger economic partnership.

The CRA, with an initial size of 100 billion U.S. dollars, will help countries forestall short-term liquidity pressures, promote further BRICS cooperation, strengthen the global financial safety net and complement existing international arrangements, according to a declaration released Tuesday following the sixth BRICS summit in Brazil.