Growth Recovery Support Program

Lending Modality: The crisis in Georgia, triggered largely by exogenous shocks, has underscored the need for a suitable modality that will enable ADB to provide quick support. While ADB has a program lending policy, there is no special modality for a financial crisis response operation for Asian Development Fund countries. The special program loan in the program lending policy is limited to ordinary capital resources countries (OCR). ADB's Countercyclical Support Facility (CSF) helped disburse anti-crisis support quickly to OCR eligible countries. In 2008, ADB invoked its Disaster and Emergency Assistance Policy, together with Achieving Development Effectiveness in Weakly Performing Countries, to support Georgia through the Emergency Assistance for Post-Conflict Recovery Project. However, the approach adopted under the Growth Recovery Support Program has demonstrated that ADB can quickly mobilize support for its developing members countries (DMCs). Yet, somewhat protracted internal discussions over the application of the program lending policy slowed down ADB's response in the absence of clarity on the flexible application of that policy for crisis situations such as the one faced in Georgia.