Asian Development Fund

Asian Development Fund
Updated: 22 July 2008

The Asian Development Fund (ADF) has, since 1973, been a major instrument of concessional financing in support of equitable and sustainable development for the region.

ADF, funded by ADB's donor member countries, offers loans at very low interest rates and grants that help reduce poverty in ADB's poorest borrowing countries.

Initial contributions to ADF were pledged in 1973 (ADF I). Subsequently, ADF has been replenished eight times with the current ADF IX covering the period 2005-2008.

Recently, ADB has concluded its ADF X round of discussions with donors for the period 2009-2012, after four ADF X Donors' Meetings held in Sydney, Australia (13-14 September 2007), Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic (26-27 November 2007), Manila, Philippines (13-14 March 2008), and Madrid, Spain (1-2 May 2008).

Poverty in Asia and the Pacific

The Asia and Pacific region has experienced high and sustained growth rates, with an average growth rate of about 6% per annum in recent years. However, despite rapid decline in poverty rates, recent ADB estimates suggest that around 600 million people in the region are surviving on less than $1 a day.

Non-income poverty is proving to be persistent, as evidenced by the millions of children living in hunger, unacceptably high maternal and child mortality, poor quality education in many countries, and lack of access to adequate water and sanitation.

Although the region is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of reducing by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day, it is unlikely to meet the MDGs for reducing non-income poverty.