MDB heads deepen joint financing action in Manila

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MDB joint financing in Manila

Highlights

Heads of Multilateral Development Banks met at ADB headquarters in Manila to advance joint financing amid rising pressures from debt, inflation, and disasters.
In their joint statement, the group welcomed 2024 progress on mobilizing private capital and prioritizing jobs, nature, climate, water, critical minerals, and artificial intelligence.
ADB will hand the chairmanship to European Investment Bank Group in December, as MDBs seek greater efficiency and scale while aligning with their institutional mandates.

Manila meeting sets financing agenda

As reported by Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Heads of Multilateral Development Banks Group meet at the Asian Development Bank headquarters in Manila to discuss how to deliver more financing and stronger development results for member economies under mounting strain. ADB hosts the gathering as 2026 chair of the group, making it the first such meeting held in the Philippines.

ADB President Masato Kanda says conflict, economic uncertainty, high debt, inflation and disasters are increasing pressure on members and making development more difficult. He says the Manila meeting is intended to turn shared commitments into practical action that helps members protect development gains, attract investment and build more resilient economies.

Private capital and joint priorities in focus

Against a backdrop of disasters, conflicts, difficult macroeconomic conditions and constrained fiscal space, the heads reaffirm their readiness to provide timely financial and analytical support to protect vulnerable populations and sustain investment in jobs and resilient long-term growth.

In a joint statement, the group welcomes progress this year in working as a system to mobilize private capital and advance joint action on jobs, nature, climate, water, critical minerals and artificial intelligence, alongside other shared development priorities. The statement also points to efforts to improve system efficiency and deliver greater impact at scale, in line with each institution's mandate, strategy and operating model.

The chair role will pass in December from ADB to the European Investment Bank Group. The group includes the African Development Bank Group, Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Council of Europe Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank Group, Inter-American Development Bank Group, Islamic Development Bank, New Development Bank and the World Bank Group, while the International Monetary Fund also takes part in the discussions.

Our earlier article on Mario Draghi’s warning about tight monetary policy highlighted the risk that keeping interest rates above growth rates can worsen public debt dynamics and end up crowding out the structural investment needed for future resilience. It also explained his call for central banks to control inflation while avoiding unnecessary damage to productive investment, alongside complementary measures such as deeper EU market integration and targeted funding to de-risk AI-related investment.

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