By Tamora Vidaillet
PARIS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The Asian Development Bank hopes to
raise non-concessional lending to the crisis-hit Asian region by
as much as 50 percent this year and is preparing to trim its
growth forecasts, a top official said on Tuesday.
Asian governments had stepped up requests for loans from the
summer of last year, with more lining up for the ADB's help in
recent weeks as the impact of the financial crisis deepened,
said ADB Managing Director General Rajat Nag.
Provided the ADB's 67 shareholder countries agreed to help
double or triple the bank's capital base at an annual meeting in
May, the lender could ramp up non-concessional loans to meet the
growing need of countries in pain.
"We are very hopeful. I don't think there is resistance in
principle," said Nag of the ADB's proposal that shareholders
cough up capital to aid development in Asia.
"On the non-concessional (side), we would be able to go from
about $8.5 billion to between $11 and $13 billion, depending on
how much capital increase we can get," he told Reuters.
The ADB hopes to hammer out a deal with its members, which
include 17 European nations and the United States, on the
Indonesian island of Bali in May.
The authorised and subscribed capital of the Manila-based
institution stood at $55.2 billion at the end of last September.
Despite massive financial strains among shareholders -- the
result of domestic stimulus programs aimed at overcoming the
crisis -- nations could easily cough up the say five percent of
increased capital needed to foster stability in Asia, he said.
LOWER FORECASTS
Turning to growth forecasts for Asia, Nag said the ADB was
looking to make downward revisions for 2009, to put its regional
forecast at the lower end of a five to six percent range, from
5.8 percent now.
"It is being revised and we will come up with another one in
March which will be significantly lower," he said.
"It will be in the range of five to six percent, but it will
probably be towards the lower end of that range," he said of the
forecast for growth in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan,
Australia and New Zealand.
The ADB normally updates its forecasts twice a year, in
April and September.
The worsening climate had prompted more discussions between
the ADB and Asian nations on lending facilities, Nag said.
Talks were largely at a preliminary stage, with the trend of
Asian countries seeking help from multilateral institutions
likely to last around two years, he said.
As a result, the long-term goal of the ADB to increase
non-sovereign, including private sector, lending to 50 percent
from 30 percent now could be temporarily compromised.
"There might be a pull back on that because of some of the
very high priorities of social sector investment....but we don't
want to lose sight of our long-term strategy and support for
long-term development," he said.
To finance its lending programs, the ADB plans to raise some
$9-$10 billion this year, via different types of debt issues.
On Monday, the ADB issued $1 billion worth of 3-year notes,
which Nag said had met with strong investor appetite.
The March 2012 global bonds carried a coupon rate of 2.125
percent per annum, payable semi-annually, and were priced at
99.779 to yield 92.25 basis points over comparable U.S.
Treasuries.
(Reporting by Tamora Vidaillet; Editing by Andy Bruce)
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