Asian Development Bank (A.D.B.)

By:

James Knight

James is a lead editor for Invezz, where he covers topics from across the financial world, from the stock… read more.

Updated: Aug 20, 2021

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The Bank, which is based in Manilla, was set up in November 1966 following the recommendations of the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific. It was formed ‘to foster economic growth and cooperation in the region of Asia and the Pacific and to contribute to the acceleration of economic development of the developing countries of the region’. It encourages economic and financial cooperation among the regional members. Membership carries the right to contract for projects sup­ported by bank loans. About 60 per cent of the total subscribed capital of $1,100 million was contributed by the nineteen countries within the United Nations commission region, which include the three developed countries of Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The remaining non-regional members include the U.S., which subscribed $200 million (as did Japan), West Germany, ‘Canada, the U.K. and Switzerland. In 1976, by which year subscribed capita! had increased to $3,700 million, agreement was reached which raised this· figure to $8,800 million. The bank _operates as a viable banking institution, charging realistic rates of interest and encouraging a flow of capita! to the region from outside sources. The Bank’s affiliate, the Asian Development Fund, gives soft loans to the poorest nations in the region. It draws on contributions from seventeen donor countries, which agreed in 1982 to subscribe $3·2 billion. The Bank has a membership of thirty-one countries in Asia and the Pacific and fourteen countries outside the region.

Reference: The Penguin Dictionary of Economics, 3rd edt.