The saving rate, measured by the Board’s flow of funds accounts is higher, at 5 percent of disposable income, though it, too, is significantly lower than its average level in the past. Analysis by Board staff using data from the SCF indicate that households in the top income quintile can account for nearly all of the decline in the aggregate saving rate since 1989.
Another initiative which the BRICS grouping has undertaken in its quest to strengthen the global financial safety net is the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA). The CRA Treaty was signed in July 2014 and came into effect a year later; it is now fully operational.