ADB approves $2.6bln for private sector

MANILA: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a record $2.6 billion of new financing and investments for the private sector in 2015, a 37 percent increase from a year earlier and 62 percent higher than in 2013.

As a result of this significant expansion, ADB’s private sector investment portfolio has increased to more than eight billion dollars, and its private sector operations are now targeted to double from the current levels by 2020.   “ADB believes that the private sector is a key engine of growth in developing Asia and a critical partner in alleviating poverty. As a result, we are substantially expanding our private sector financing and investment operations to meet the rapidly changing needs of this dynamic region,” said ADB President Takehiko Nakao.

“By promoting an improved business climate, with enhanced access to more flexible financing solutions and trade facilitation tools, ADB is helping the private sector create high quality jobs and increase living standards across Asia and the Pacific.”

In addition to the provision of its own capital, ADB seeks to catalyse the flow of third-party commercial financing into its transactions through a variety of co-financing and risk mitigation products. In 2015, ADB´s private sector co-financing was over $4.5 billion, representing over 40 percent of total ADB co-financing volume during the year, and including nearly $1.5 billion of loan syndications and risk transfers across such diverse markets as Azerbaijan, the People´s Republic of China, India, and Myanmar.