Dhaka, May 22 – The Asian Development Bank has recorded a net income of $1.554 billion in 2019, up from $750 million in 2018. The Bank Board of Governors in its first-ever virtual Annual Meeting held amid the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on Friday approved the bank’s annual financial statements which show ADB’s ordinary capital resources’ operating income totalled $1.1 billion in 2019, up from $889 million in 2018, according to a report published in the regional bank’s website on the day. The Board of Governors adopted a resolution to allocate $1.069 billion of net income, the highest in the bank’s history, from ADB’s 2019 ordinary capital resources. The 2019 net allocable income is higher than the $841.4 million recorded in 2018, due largely to an increase in income from lending operations and liquidity investments, as well as a drop in nonsovereign loan loss provisions.
Of the allocable net income $615.7 million will be distributed to the ordinary reserve to support ADB’s capital adequacy and provide an earnings base to generate net income; $259.5 million to the Asian Development Fund, which provides grants to ADB’s low-income member countries; $130 million to the Technical Assistance Special Fund, which provides a stable and predictable funding source for ADB’s technical assistance, as well as increased support to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic; $30 million to the Regional Cooperation and Integration Fund; $24 million to the Climate Change Fund; and $10 million to the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund.
“Our immediate priority is to provide vital support to developing member countries as they confront the COVID‐19 pandemic and return their economies to a path of sustainable growth,” said ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa in his remarks to the meeting. “Your approval today of the financial statements and allocation of net income ensure that we have the tools and financial stability to address the enormous challenges that now affect the lives and economies of millions of people across our region.”
“Our choices and efforts today will determine whether we can overcome the current health care and economic crises,” said the Chair of the Board of Governors, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Korea Hong Nam-Ki. “The ADB should turn this crisis into an opportunity while enhancing knowledge sharing on COVID-19 policy responses and expanding support for low-income countries and vulnerable groups.”
The approval came at the first stage of the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors—a Business Session among the Governors or their designated representatives from 68 members of ADB.
The second stage of the Annual Meeting, including seminars with Governors and other senior government officials, members of the private sector, representatives of international organizations and civil society organizations, youth, academia, and the media, is currently scheduled for 18–21 September 2020 in Incheon, Republic of Korea, the report says. – News Desk
