Azerbaijan, Baku, April 22 / Trend N. Ismayilova /
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a record $16.1 billion in financing operations, a 42 percent increase over the $11.3 billion approved the previous year, according to ADB's 2009 Annual Report, released ahead of the 43rd Annual Meeting to be held 1-4 May in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The increase was made possible by ADB's fifth general capital increase, which tripled ADB's capital base from $55 billion to $165 billion, the biggest in ADB history and the first in 15 years.
While economic recovery is under way, ADB has estimated that about 71 million people living on less than $2 a day (54 million of them living on less then $1.25 a day) could have escaped poverty if growth rates had stayed at 2007 levels.
Overall operations of $16.1 billion in 2009 comprised loans and grants of $14.3 billion, guarantees amounting to $397 million, $850 million for a trade finance facilitation program, $220 million in equity investments, and $267 million in technical assistance. The loans included $2.5 billion in assistance under the Countercyclical Support Facility - a short-term, budget support instrument to help crisis-affected members. ADB also mobilized cofinancing amounting to $3.2 billion.
The top three recipients of assistance were Viet Nam, Indonesia, and the People's Republic of China.
About 81 percent of total assistance went to ADB's five core operational areas of infrastructure, finance, education, environment, and regional cooperation. About 65 percent of ADB investments were allocated to infrastructure and about 35 percent supported environmental sustainability.
ADB's Clean Energy Program has invested $2.8 billion over the last 2 years in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and clean technology deployment that encourage its developing member countries to move toward low-carbon energy generation and utilization.