Donors agree on replenishment of more than $4b for ADB’s grant funds

Donors have agreed on the replenishment in excess of $4 billion for the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Asian Development Fund (ADF) 13 and Technical Assistance Special Fund (TASF) 7, for a four-year period from 2021 to 2024. The total size of the replenishment represents a 7 percent increase in comparison to the previous replenishment, which covered the 2017-2020 period.

Total resources are allocated between ADF 13 and TASF 7 – about $3.5 billion and about $0.5 billion, respectively, said an ADB press release. Of the total replenishment size, more than $2.3 billion, or 58 percent, will be funded by contributions from 30 donors including two new donors – Azerbaijan and the Philippines.

The remaining $1.7 billion, or 42 percent, will be funded by internal resources, including net income transfers from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and income from ADF’s liquidity investment. The total replenishment size is expected to increase further as three more donors confirm their pledges.ADF is the largest special fund of ADB and finances grant operations in its poorest and most vulnerable members. The fund is replenished every four years.

“We highly appreciate our donors’ support for ADF 13 and TASF 7, even as their own economies are under pressure from the heavy health and economic toll of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic,” said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa. “

Our assistance will be critical in responding to the COVID-19 crisis and building an inclusive and sustainable recovery in the poorest and most vulnerable countries of the region,” he added. The release said the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a devastating toll in terms of human lives and health, jobs, growth, and economic progress in Asia and the Pacific.

Gains in reducing poverty are threatened, inequalities will increase, and progress against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are likely to be set back, especially in low income countries which include fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCAS) and small island developing states (SIDS).

To help these countries cope with the crisis and ensure robust sustainable and inclusive recovery, ADF grants together with ADB’s concessional loans will deliver more than $16 billion in assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable members in 2021-2024.

(AA)