Learning Lessons: Lessons Learned from ADB's Response to the Global Economic Crisis of 2008-2009

Abstract

Two years since the onset of the crisis, policy makers have been busy pursuing expansionary fiscal and monetary policies to mitigate the impact of the crisis and sow the seeds for a strong recovery. Asia, while less exposed to the crisis than the G3 (Europe, Japan, and the United States)—has been actively engaged in fiscal and monetary stimulus, supported, in some cases, by international financial institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB). ADB played its part in helping developing Asia in its endeavor for growth recovery. It recognized early on the exceptional nature of financial requirements resulting from the global financial crisis in September 2008, and put in place new modalities and facilities, as well as innovative procedures, to respond to the crisis. This guide distills the lessons and key findings from a real-time evaluation study on ADB’s response to the global economic crisis of 2008–2009. The study covered ADB’s crisis-related assistance (loans and grants) provided in 2009 and 2010 from the concessional Asian Development Fund (ADF); ordinary capital resources (OCR); and other ADB specific funds, particularly the Countercyclical Support Fund (CSF) and Trade Finance Program (TFP). This guide makes no attempt to evaluate or summarize the response in its entirety, but rather pulls together some of the key emerging lessons to make them available to a broader audience. Specific evidence is cited in the main report, which is listed in the reference section for readers requiring a more comprehensive treatment of the issues.