4. Regional banks influence the system of international monetary, credit and financial relations

as well as the processes of international trade in different regions of the world. The African Development

Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development,

the Inter-American Development Bank refer to regional banks.

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a) The African Development Bank (ADB) is a regional international bank established in 1964 for

assisting in the economic growth of the independent African states. In 1972 an affiliated organization,

the African Development Fund, was set up with a membership open, unlike that of the Bank, to

non-African states. It is through this Fund that loans are made to African member states at low rates

of interest (soft loan). Affiliation to the Fund has enabled the Bank to broaden its sources of funds for

Investment. In 1982 the African members of the Bank agreed to open its membership to non-African

states. In 1996 the Bank had fifty African member states and twenty-five other member states.

b) The Asian Development Bank (ADB), based in Manila, was established in 1966, following the

recommendations of the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific. It was

formed "to foster economic growth and cooperation in the region of Asia and the Pacific and to

contribute to the acceleration of economic development of the developing countries of the region".

It encourages economic and financial cooperation among the regional members. Membership

carries the right to contract for projects supported by bank loans.

In 2003, ADB approved loans worth $6.1 billion for 66 projects, most of which went to the

public sector. India was the largest borrower, followed by People's Republic of China, Pakistan,

Bangladesh, and Shi Lanka. Grants worth US $483.5 million were provided, and technical assistance,

which is used to prepare projects and support advisory activities, amounted to $176.5 million.

ADB's projects and programs, whether poverty interventions or otherwise, emphasize one or

more of the following priorities: economic growth, human development, gender and development,

good governance, environmental protection, private sector development, regional cooperation.

The bank operates as a viable banking institution, charging realistic rates of interest and encourages

a flow of capital to the region from outside sources.

The Bank has a membership of sixty-three countries in Asia and the Pacific and eighteen countries

outside the region.

c) European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. An international bank set up in 1991 to

“promote private and entrepreneurial initiative in the Central and Eastern European countries

committed to and applying the principles of multi-party democracy, pluralism and market economics.”

It was established to help the previously planned economies of Central and Eastern Europe

to develop free markets which would have a minimum of government intervention and whose

governments would be freely elected on a multi-party basis. Fifty-nine countries and institutions

are members of the Bank, including the European Union and the European Investment Bank. The

European Union, including EU institutions, holds 59.8 per cent of the Bank’s voting rights, of

which France, Germany, Italy and the UK hold 8.97 per cent each. Japan holds 9.0 per cent, the

USA 8.3 per cent, the Russian Federation 4.2 per cent and Canada 3.6 per cent. In 1996 the shareholders

agreed to double the Bank’s total capital ECU 20 billion but the increase was to be spread

over the years from 1998 to 2010. The Bank is authorized to lend up to 60 per cent of its funds,

overall and to any individual country, for private sector projects and 40 per cent for public projects.