MILAN, Italy, May 4. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to increase its annual lending in the next 5 to 10 years, ADB Chief Economist and Director General, Economic Research and Development Impact Department Albert Park said speaking at the session “Globalization as a Force for Sustainable Development” during the 58th Annual Meeting of ADB in Milan, Trend reports.
He emphasized the institution’s commitment to scaling up financing efforts and strengthening global partnerships to meet the growing demands of sustainable development.
“In terms of financing, it’s exactly this kind of approach,” Park said, underlining the evolving strategies adopted by multilateral development banks (MDBs) in the face of declining overseas development assistance and shrinking government budgets.
He noted that while institutions like USAID and the Millennium Challenge Corporation in the US have recently closed or reduced operations, MDBs are stepping up. “All of the MDBs [multilateral development banks] are actually planning to scale up their financing because of the capital adequacy reviews that were done recently, which have allowed banks to leverage more against their capital,” he said.
According to Park, ADB plans to increase its annual lending from approximately $24 billion to over $30 billion in the next 5 to 10 years. “There will be plenty of work to do with that financing,” he added, pointing to a growing emphasis on climate finance and the critical role of the private sector.
“We all realize that MDB finance and government finance is not going to be nearly enough to tackle all of the needs for both mitigation and adaptation,” he stated. “MDBs are also really focusing on supporting private sector development and mobilizing private sector finance.”
Park also highlighted the strengthening of institutional partnerships. “We recently entered into an agreement with the World Bank. We have a mutual reliance framework… we can co-finance more freely,” he said, describing it as a move that enhances efficiency and scale.
Despite global uncertainties, Park expressed confidence in the path forward. “The long-term commitments and engagements that many international organizations have been committed to continue, improve, strengthen and mature,” he concluded.