by admin | May 25, 2021 | Entrepreneurship, Women Entrepreneur, World
Colombo : The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has granted $12.5 million to help women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka who have difficulty in accessing finance.
The Finance Ministry in a statement on Monday said that since women led small and medium enterprises face significant difficulties in accessing finance, a grant of $12.5 million will be mobilized from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative.
Out of the total amount, around $9.5 million will be lent directly to business women through Sri Lankan lending institutions, Xinhua news agency reported. Grants do not have to be paid back.
The Ministry said women entrepreneurs will be given business training in former war-torn north and east and in the Uva and Sabaragamuwa provinces having high rates of poverty.
The World Bank in an earlier report urged Sri Lanka to encourage more women to work as this would not only help the country realize its economic potential but would build on its several achievements.
The report said Sri Lankan women, especially younger ones, do not sufficiently acquire marketable skills, face higher unemployment rates and receive lower wages than men.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Manila : The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Friday that it has approved a grant assistance of $100 million to help displaced people sheltered in 32 camps in Bangladesh.
The ADB said the grant was the first of an envisaged package totalling $200 million to help Bangladesh develop basic infrastructure and services for displaced persons, Xinhua news agency reported.
Since late August 2017, a large number of people have crossed the border from Myanmar’s Rakhine state into Cox’s Bazar at the southeast tip of Bangladesh.
The ADB said the displaced persons were living in 32 camps spread over the district. “Providing food, shelter, health, sanitation, water and other essential services in the camps while fending off disease is a daily challenge. If unaddressed, conditions are feared to worsen dramatically,” it said.
The ADB grant will support the displaced people sheltered in camps in the Ukhia and Teknaf subdistricts of Cox’s Bazar focusing on water supply and sanitation, disaster risk management, energy and roads.
The project will rehabilitate roads within the camps to connect essential food distribution and storage centres, hospitals, education facilities and provide emergency access, the bank said, adding it will also resurface the road from Cox’s Bazar to Teknaf and other critical sections.
It will also address the need of water, power and strengthen risk management of natural disasters.
The project has been developed and will be implemented in coordination with UN agencies, the World Bank and other donors, the ADB said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Banking, Corporate, Corporate finance, Economy, Markets, News
New Delhi : The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday said it has signed a loan of up to $200 million with IndusInd Bank to provide finance to low income women borrowers in rural India.
The seven-year senior loan will go toward IndusInd Bank’s microfinance activities.
“ADB is proud to partner with IndusInd Bank in its efforts to expand finance to underserved people in India’s less developed states,” Christine Engstrom, Director in ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department said.
At least 95 per cent of Manila-based ADB’s funding for the project will be used to provide credit to women borrowers and at least 70 per cent of the number of loans will be deployed in country’s less developed states.
The loan aims to reach an additional 200,000 low income members by 2020, ADB said in a statement.
“A capacity building technical assistance of $1 million is expected to be part of the package. It will support IndusInd Bank’s efforts to improve financial literacy to women borrowers and to develop digitised processing and product development initiatives,” it said.
Romesh Sobti, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of IndusInd Bank said: “This significant agreement with ADB will help IndusInd Bank to further enhance its inclusive banking franchise and extend finance to women borrowers in less developed states of India, providing impetus to the bank’s financial inclusion and corporate social responsibility agenda.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Investing
New Delhi, (IANS) The Indian government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday inked an agreement for a $200 million loan to upgrade 176-km roads in Jharkhand, an official statement said.
“The financing for the Jharkhand State Roads II Project will help upgrade the existing sections of four state roads and also support improvements in the design, safety and maintenance of the road network,” a Finance Ministry statement said.
The project will also develop a road safety master plan of international standard, which will promote road safety in Jharkhand.
ADB India Director Teresa Kho said: “The new assistance will continue the ongoing physical upgrades as well as increasing the institutional capacity of the State Highways Authority of Jharkhand (SHAJ) as an autonomous road development agency.”
The safety and environmental friendly features include 60 bus stop shelters, 50-km raised sidewalks in urban areas, four-km dedicated bicycle lanes and solar-powered street lights.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, News
New Delhi, (IANS) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is in Frankfurt, Germany, on a day’s official visit for the annual meeting of board of governors’ of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
“Mr Jaitley left for Frankfurt today morning to attend the ADB meet,” a finance ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Jaitley will attend the 49th annual meeting of the board of governors’ of ADB.
“The finance minister would focus on the performance of Indian economy in the period of global slowdown. Cooperation with ADB in development will also be on his agenda,” the ministry said in a statement.
Jaitley is also slated to hold meetings with Hans-Joachim Fuchtel of German federal ministry for economic cooperation and development; and Takeshi Kunibe, President and CEO, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, during the trip.
He will also discuss the economic assistance packages from India to Bhutan, progress of work of hydropower projects funded by India and the sub-regional cooperation in his meeting with Bhutanese finance minister Lyonpo Namgay Dorji.
Jaitley will then participate in the CNBC debate on “Asian Economic Outlook-2016” along with other finance ministers of Indonesia, Pakistan, and ADB President Takehiko Nakao before returning to India on Thursday.
Though Asian Development Outlook 2016 predicts softening in the region’s growth rates from 5.9 percent projected last year to 5.7 percent each in 2016-17, India is projected to grow at 7.6 percent in 2015-16 despite decline in exports and two consecutive unfavourable monsoons.
