ADB scales up operations in Asia, Pacific
DHAKA, April 23, 2026 (BSS)- Asian Development Bank (ADB) committed $29.3 billion from its own resources in 2025 while advancing key institutional reforms to help Asia and the Pacific navigate change and turn challenges into opportunities.
ADB’s Annual Report 2025, published today summarizes the bank’s operational, institutional, and financial highlights in 2025, a year marked by complexity and uncertainty.
“In 2025, ADB delivered unprecedented levels of support, with a 20 percent increase over 2024 and expected impacts of more than 3.3 million jobs and benefit to over 180 million people,” said ADB President Masato Kanda.
“This shows ADB’s ability to deliver at a scale and with the speed that matches the demands of Asia and the Pacific,” he said.
Loans, grants, equity investments, guarantees, and technical assistance provided to governments and the private sector increased by 20% year-on-year to $29.3 billion. This was boosted by an additional $14.7 billion from partners, said an ADB press release.
Private sector development was a key priority for ADB in 2025 comprising $5.5 billion of its commitments, while half of its public sector commitments directly supported infrastructure, reforms, and institutions to unlock private investments.
ADB committed $8.3 billion in Central West Asia, $1.4 billion in East Asia, $680 million in the Pacific, $9.7 billion in South Asia, and $9 billion in Southeast Asia, with $302 million allocated to regional projects. Finance, transport, and public sector management were the top three sectors to receive funding.
ADB approved groundbreaking institutional reforms in 2025 to deliver high-quality and well-targeted support to developing member countries, the release said.
The reform include an amendment to the ADB Charter to remove the bank’s lending limitation and enable a 50 percent increase in financing capacity without requiring a general capital increase from shareholders, it said.
Under the reform measures ADB’s energy policy has been updated to better support energy access and security in developing member countries.
ADB also streamlined procurement procedures to strengthen ADB’s commitment to quality, sustainability, and value for money.
Besides, a new approach has been adopted under the reform initiative to support critical minerals-to-manufacturing value chains, responsibly and sustainably capitalize on the demand for materials essential for renewable energy and digital technologies.