What is Asian Development Bank (ADB)?

About Asian Development Bank (ADB):

• It is a multilateral development bankestablished on 19th December 1966.
• It is the principal international development finance institution for the Asia-Pacific
• It envisions a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty in the region.
• Functions:
• It provides assistance to its developing member countries, the private sector, and public-private partnerships through grants, loans, technical assistance, and equity investments to promote social and economic development.
• ADB maximizes the development impact of its assistance by facilitating policy dialogues, providing advisory services, and mobilizing financial resources through cofinancing operations that tap official, commercial, and export credit sources.
• Headquarters: Manila, Philippines.
• Membership:
  • Membership in the ADB is open to members and associate members of the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East.
  • It's also open to other regional countries and non-regional developed countries that are members of the U.N. or of any of its specialized agencies. 
  • From 31 members at its establishment in 1966, ADB has grown to encompass 68 members, of which 49 are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside.
• Control:
  • ADB is run by a board of governors, which represents the member countriesof the ADB. 
  • The ADB was modelled closely on the World Bankand has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion to members' capital subscriptions.
  • As of 2022, ADB's five largest shareholders are Japan and the United States (each with 6% of total shares), the People's Republic of China (6.4%), India (6.3%), and Australia (5.8%).
• Source of Funding:
  • It raises capital regularly through the international bond markets.
  • The ADB also relies on member contributions, retained earnings from lending, and the repayment of loans for the funding of the organization.