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. Donors have pledged more than $4 billion to replenish Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) grant funds to the regionduring a virtual meeting on 16 September.

The grant funds include the Asian Development Fund (ADF) 13 and Technical Assistance Special Fund (TASF) 7, for the four-year period from 2021 to 2024.

More than $2.3 billion, or 58%, of the pledged amount will be funded by contributions from 30 donors, including two new donors, Azerbaijan and the Philippines.

While the remaining $1.7 billion, or 42%, will be funded by internal resources, including net income transfers from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and income from ADF’s liquidity investment.

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa said 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.

“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.”

Setbacks

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, they said that 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. 

The replenishment virtual meeting was held on the eve of the second stage of ADB’s 53rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors [2], held this year over two days in a virtual and abbreviated format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other events held on 16 September included a meeting of the Governors of Pacific Developing Member Countries [3], an ADB Institute webinar on the Economic Impacts of COVID-19 in Asia, and the 15th informal meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Finance Ministers.