The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said yesterday it would establish a US$3 billion fund to boost developing member countries’ fiscal spending capacity amid the global economic crisis.
ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda announced plans for the new facility at the bank’s annual meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali, saying it would provide short-term loans more quickly and more cheaply than existing programs.
The Countercyclical Support Facility (CSF) is subject to approval by the lender’s board of governors, who will meet in Bali tomorrow and Tuesday to discuss the impact of the global downturn on Asia’s developing economies.
PHOTO: EPA
“The CSF will provide emergency loans faster and cheaper than under ADB’s existing special loan facilities,” Kuroda said. “I believe this will be a very welcome initiative to assist faltering economies and, most importantly, protect the poor from the worst impacts of the crisis.”
The announcement comes just two days after the board agreed to triple the ADB’s capital base, from US$55 billion to US$165 billion, allowing the bank to boost lending support in the crisis.
In a report released at the press conference yesterday, the bank revealed plans to increase its overall lending assistance by more than US$10 billion in 2009-2010.
That would bring total ADB assistance during the year to about US$32 billion, compared with about US$22 billion in 2007-2008, it said.
“The crisis support will include project investments, quick-disbursing policy-based loans, guarantees, and new initiatives designed to address specific crisis needs,” the bank said in a statement. “ADB will also expand its support through grants for policy analysis and capacity building.”
The bank has said GDP growth in developing Asian countries is projected to decline to just 3.4 percent this year from 9.5 percent in 2007.
At the lower rate more than 60 million extra people in the region will remain in extreme poverty than would have done if the higher rate had been maintained.
Governments across the region have boosted spending and slashed interest rates in a bid to stimulate domestic demand to offset crashing external demand for their exports from Europe and the US.
But the ADB fears the task may be beyond the capacity of some countries and yesterday’s announcement is part of plans to help poorer member states cope with the crisis.
“A number of governments in the region have boosted spending to spur domestic consumption to counter falling offshore demand, but not all governments are able to do so,” it said. “Moreover, with the global downturn likely to be deeper and longer than previously expected, economies in the region are likely to come under increased pressure.”
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco), the Saudi state-owned oil giant, yesterday posted first-quarter profits of US$26 billion, down 4.6 percent from the prior year as falling global oil prices undermine the kingdom’s multitrillion-dollar development plans. Aramco had revenues of US$108.1 billion over the quarter, the company reported in a filing on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange. The company saw US$107.2 billion in revenues and profits of US$27.2 billion for the same period last year. Saudi Arabia has promised to invest US$600 billion in the US over the course of US President Donald Trump’s second term. Trump, who is set to touch
SKEPTICAL: An economist said it is possible US and Chinese officials would walk away from the meeting saying talks were productive, without reducing tariffs at all US President Donald Trump hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations, ahead of a second day of talks yesterday between top officials from Washington and Beijing aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout. In a Truth Social post early yesterday, Trump praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner.” The second day of closed-door meetings between US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) were due to restart yesterday morning, said a person familiar
RSS