ADB continues to deliver development results for Asia and Pacific — report

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) continues to deliver on its goal of achieving a more prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific through increased development finance, more efficient strategic operations, and enhanced focus on partnerships and collaborations says a new ADB performance review.

The 2018 Development Effectiveness Review (DEfR), the 12th in the series of annual performance reports prepared by ADB, was launched in Nadi, Fiji, at the 52nd Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors. The report, based on ADB’s corporate results framework, assesses the bank’s performance and progress in implementing its strategy across various results indicators.

“The 2018 DEfR highlights ADB’s efforts, and successes, in delivering on its mission of helping the Asia and Pacific region become more prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable,” said the Director General of ADB’s Strategy, Policy, and Partnerships Department Mr. Tomoyuki Kimura. “ADB will continue enhancing its operations to help more people in the Asia and Pacific region.”

ADB operations in 2018 continued to grow, with commitments including loans and grants, reaching $21.6 billion, up 10% from the $19.7 billion committed in 2017.

ADB’s response to climate change and support for gender equality accelerated, according to the report. The share of ADB operations supporting climate change adaptation and mitigation during the 2016–2018 review period reached 56%, surpassing the 2020 target of 45%.

Financing for private sector operations also reached new heights, with commitments increasing by 37% to $3.1 billion in 2018 from $2.3 billion in 2017. Private sector operations’ share of the total signed ADB financing, meanwhile, rose to 19.3% in 2018 from 13.3% in 2017, putting it on track to reach the 2020 target of 20%.

Education and health financing are also on track to meet their 2020 targets. Education commitments reached a record 7.5% share of total commitments in 2018—achieving for the first time the 6% to 10% 2020 target range—with volume of commitments more than doubling to $1.6 billion, comprised of 13 loans and grants. Financing for health rose to 2.4% of total operations, the highest figure since 2010 and on track to meet the 3% to 5% 2020 target range. Health financing also more than doubled to $515 million in 2018, with 13 loans and grants committed.

Read and download the 2018 Development Effectiveness Review (DEfR)

Original source: ADB
Published on 02 May 2019