The FINANCIAL — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Samoa on January 11 signed a policy-based grant worth $5 million to help the Pacific island nation achieve long-term fiscal stability.
Bhimantara Widyajala, Executive Director of ADB’s Board of Directors and representing the Government of Samoa, and Xianbin Yao, Director General of ADB’s Pacific Department, signed the grant for the Samoa Fiscal Resilience Improvement Program in a ceremony at the ADB headquarters.
“The ADB assistance aims to reduce the vulnerability and boost the resilience of Samoa’s economy to fiscal and climatic shocks,” said Mr. Yao at the signing event.
The grant funding will target four reform areas, particularly the reduction of fiscal drain through state-owned enterprise reforms, improvement of procurement systems, improvement of debt management, and promotion of resilience to climate change. The program is policy-based, meaning that the funds can be released as budget support once policy actions outlined in the program are successfully completed, according to ADB.
While climate-proofing roads, bridges, and buildings can increase investment costs, it will also reduce the budgetary burden in the future when climatic shocks occur. Stronger climate resilience will also boost investor confidence, bringing positive impacts on growth and revenues.
The program will run from 2016 to 2018 and builds on previous policy-based support to help the government improve its fiscal position through policy and public enterprise reforms. It supports the Samoan government’s medium-term fiscal framework.
ADB has been working with Samoa since 1966, with approved loans, grants, and technical assistance totaling $340.46 million.
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