MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved $21.72 billion in financing operations last year, a 14.5% increase on ADB’s previous year’s financing, according to its 2011 Annual Report, released ahead of the organization’s 45th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors, to be held from 2 to 5 May in Manila, Philippines.

“Poverty reduction remains the greatest challenge for developing Asia and the Pacific,” ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said. “Although significant progress has been made in reducing income poverty, large pockets of deprivation remain, and disparities within and across countries continue to grow.”

Nearly 1.8 billion Asians live on less than $2 a day. Low-income countries are struggling to sustain economic growth and reduce poverty, and a substantial proportion of the region’s poor today live in middle-income countries.

To make the process of economic expansion more conducive to reducing poverty, ADB focuses on three primary strategic agendas: inclusive growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. ADB supports its developing member countries in pursuing these strategies with all the instruments at its disposal – from project finance and technical assistance to knowledge products and policy dialogue.

Of the financing total, $14.02 billion came from ADB’s ordinary capital resources and Special Funds, and $7.69 billion from cofinancing partners. Official cofinancing increased by 13.2% to $3.5 billion, while commercial cofinancing grew sharply from $2.3 billion in 2010 to $4.2 billion in 2011.