Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao and Ulrika Modeer, Sweden’s State Secretary to the Minister for International Development Cooperation and ADB Governor, met during the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group to mark an innovative risk transfer agreement between ADB and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
Under the arrangement signed 21 September 2016, Sida will guarantee up to $155 million of ADB sovereign loans, allowing ADB to increase its lending capacity by an estimated $500 million over the next 10 years. It is the first time a risk transfer arrangement has been applied to a sovereign loan portfolio of any multilateral development bank.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, ADB in December 2016 will mark 50 years of development partnership in the region. It is owned by 67 members—48 from the region. In 2015, ADB assistance totaled $27.2 billion, including cofinancing of $10.7 billion.
