The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will increase its annual aid package by 50 per cent to $36 billion from the current $24 billion in the next one decade.
"The ADB approved a plan to scale up its operations by 50 per cent over the next decade, leveraging its existing capital base to enhance its development impact across Asia and the Pacific," said an ADB press release on Tuesday.
The Capital Utilisation Plan (CUP) outlines a pathway for increasing ADB's annual financing commitments from $24 billion in 2024 to exceed $36 billion by 2034, it said.
"This dynamic plan responds to the changing needs of our region and strengthens the transformative impact of ADB's work, improving the lives of people and safeguarding our planet," said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa.
"By utilising our enhanced lending capacity, the CUP enables us to make strategic investments to address complex challenges while raising the quality and effectiveness of our operations across the region."
The ADB said, "The CUP represents the next step in ADB's ongoing evolution. It builds on capital management reforms in 2023 that significantly increased ADB's financing capacity, and on last year's update of its corporate strategy that set ambitious targets in five focus areas."
"The ADB also strengthened concessional lending and bolstered the Asian Development Fund, the largest source of grants for its poorest and most vulnerable member countries, in its most recent replenishment," it said.
The CUP envisions a sharp increase in ADB's lending commitments over the next two to three years, supported by an expansion in staff and technical assistance resources, followed by a period of steady and sustained growth, it also said.
Non-sovereign operations are expected to grow at an accelerated pace, rising from 20 per cent to 27 per cent of commitments over the decade, while sovereign operations will expand at a moderate pace with a more balanced and diverse portfolio, it added.
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