Negotiations are underway between donors and the Asian Development Bank for the next replenishment round of the multilateral bank’s concessional lending arm.
ADB plans to seek between $12 billion and $13 billion to restock the Asian Development Fund for the period 2013-2016, according to Bloomberg. The bank is expected to conclude talks with donors and member countries at its annual meeting in May at its headquarters in Manila, Philippines.
The Asian Development Fund is ADB’s main concessional arm. It provides grants and low-interest loans to ADB’s poorest borrowing countries. It is replenished every four years, with the last round held in May 2008. At the time, ADB raised $11.3 billion.
For the upcoming development round, ADB noted possible difficulties in seeking contributions from budget-strapped donors, particularly from European countries. This is why, according to Kazu Sakai, head of ADB’s strategy and policy department, the bank expects emerging Asian countries to make “stronger contributions” to the fund.
Read more development aid news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive top international development headlines from the world’s leading donors, news sources and opinion leaders — emailed to you FREE every business day.
