Finance Minister AH Mahmood Ali has called upon the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to make its climate financing concessional while placing five specific proposals regarding measures for tackling immediate economic concerns of the developing member countries (DMC) at this turbulent time.
In placing the proposals on Sunday he said geo-political uncertainties are disproportionately affecting impoverished segments of the globe.
Taking macroeconomic predicaments into consideration, policy-based support and concessional financing would be instrumental in tackling immediate economic concerns of the developing member countries, Ali said while delivering his statement at the business session of the Board of Governors 57th ADB Annual Meeting in Georgia's capital city.
"We expect that ADB’s climate financing should be concessional," he said.
Moreover, the Bangladesh finance minister said, as rightly expressed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, climate finance must also meet three other criteria: sufficiency, regularity, and accessibility.
He called upon ADB to undertake more projects to minimise existing digital disparities on the one hand, and unlock the potentials of 4IR technologies on the other hand.
Due to heightened volatility and a widening spread of commodity prices, Ali said the prime minister has given directives that not a single inch of agricultural land be kept unused.
"Aligned with her vision, we want ADB to undertake projects to induce smart technologies in our agriculture, facilitate modern marketing facilities and eliminate barriers to fully unlock the potentials of agro-businesses," said the finance minister.
Under fiscal constraints, he said, Bangladesh seeks ADB’s upstream knowledge support for framing strategies to meet up its immediate energy needs.
Moreover, Ali said, it wants ADB to bring more investment in renewable energy with appropriate tech solutions.
"As our own Asian Bank, to ADB we held higher expectations. I have strong hopes that this conference will set the just vision for us to steer through a muddled world, determine strategies for addressing real challenges, scale up concessional climate finance, and harness newer opportunities in digital economic cooperation and building regional connectivity," he said.
Ali said they are currently living in a world that is plagued by weak and uneven global growth, decades-high inflation, reduced fiscal space, high real interest rates and elevated debt incidences.
"Facing all these odds, our assembling here at the crossroads of East and West drums up the urgency of building robust connectivity as well as consolidating our collective actions for bridging to the future," he said.
With a clear national vision and under the prudent leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the minister said, Bangladesh rode on a high growth trajectory before the pandemic.
"ADB lent to us fitting support in this epic journey. However, due to prolonged war, rising geopolitical tensions and frequent raids of extreme weather events, Bangladesh, like many other developing economies, is currently experiencing persistent headwinds and continued volatility," Ali said.
For Bangladesh, he said, the challenge is now how to manage macro fundamentals while pursuing a path for sustained higher growth.
"Our challenge is now how to garner additional funds while counterbalancing debt accumulations," he mentioned.
President of ADB Masatsugu Asakawa and Chair of the Board of Governors Lasha Khutsishvili, among others, were present at the event.
$1.42b net income allocation by ADB
The Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Sunday approved the bank’s 2023 financial statements and a $1.42 billion net income allocation from its ordinary capital resources, the highest in ADB’s history.
The 2023 net income will be allocated as follows:
$1.005 billion to ADB’s ordinary reserve to support the bank’s capital growth and provide an earnings base to generate income.
$292.5 million to the Asian Development Fund, which provides grants to ADB’s poorest and most vulnerable developing member countries.
$110 million to the Technical Assistance Special Fund, which provides technical assistance grants to borrowing members to help prepare projects and undertake technical or policy studies.
$15 million to the Asian Pacific Disaster Response Fund, which provides immediate post-disaster grants to developing member countries for restoring lifesaving services.
Allocable net income is defined as net income after appropriation of guarantee fees to the special reserve and certain adjustments reported in the cumulative revaluation adjustments account.
On May 3, donors and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) agreed to a replenishment of $5 billion for ADB’s Asian Development Fund (ADF) 14 and Technical Assistance Special Fund (TASF) 8.
The commitment was made during ADB’s 57th Annual Meeting.
The ADF is ADB’s largest source of grants for operations in its poorest and most vulnerable developing member countries and is replenished every 4 years.
ADF 14, marking the 13th replenishment since the fund’s establishment, will support grant operations during 2025ÂÂÂ-2028.
The ADF 14 replenishment is about 22 per cent higher than the $4.1 billion available in ADF 13, and will provide eligible ADB members with the largest-ever volume of ADF grants.
TASF 8 will provide grants that help prepare projects, build capacity, and provide technical or policy advice.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.
Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members, 49 from the region.
