Asian Development Bank president steps down after eight years
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The president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)on Monday stepped down after eight years to serve as governor of the Bank of Japan.
Haruhiko Kuroda, the longest serving president of the Manila-based bank, said he hoped that the ADB would continue its critical role in supporting Asian countries in taking advantage of growth opportunities and in responding to crises.
"Much remains to be done in a region still faced with many challenges," he said. "I have every confidence in ADB's continued success in addressing them."
Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram, chairman of the ADB board of governors, hailed Kuroda for steering the bank to become the region's premier development institution.
"His extraordinary vision and leadership has enabled ADB to significantly advance its mission of poverty reduction and sustainable economic development in Asia and the Pacific," he said.
Under Kuroda's presidency, ADB's lending, co-financing, grants and other financial assistance tripled from 7.4 billion dollars in 2005to 21.57 billion dollars in 2012.
Kuroda also oversaw the tripling of ADB's capital base to 165billion dollars and raised over 23 billion dollars for a concessionary fund to help meet the needs of the bank's poorest member countries.
