ADB Reports State It has Committed $20 Billion For APAC's Economic Recovery

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced on Monday that it will commit USD 20.5 billion from its own resources in 2022 to assist Asia and the Pacific in continuing its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, despite new economic headwinds and crises.

The financial and operational results published in ADB's Annual Report 2022 demonstrated how the bank combined finance and knowledge, as well as leveraged partnerships, to assist the region in dealing with economic shocks exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a worsening food crisis, and extreme weather events.

"Our assistance in 2022 assisted our developing member countries (DMCs) in navigating the immediate consequences of these crises while strengthening their long-term resilience in critical areas such as climate change and food security," said ADB president Masatsugu Asakawa.

Loans and guarantees, grants, equity investments, and technical support to governments and the commercial sector totaled USD 20.5 billion. According to ADB, it has mobilised an additional USD 11.4 billion in co-financing.

ADB pledged USD 6.7 billion in climate mitigation and adaptation financing in 2022, making progress towards its goal of delivering USD 100 billion in cumulative climate financing from 2019 to 2030.

ADB delivered USD 3.7 billion under its USD 14 billion food security programme to address the region's rising food crisis, it said, offering crucial food support to the most vulnerable people and boosting food production systems.

Annual Report 2022 explains how ADB is adjusting to meet the changing and complex needs of its DMCs. These include structural and nonstructural organisational reforms led by a new operational model, as well as efforts to release more resources to assist the region's development through an ongoing examination of the bank's capital adequacy framework.