ADB lending to India, China to be maintained - Interview

Rajat Nag, managing director general of the Manila-based multilateral lender, said in an interview on the sidelines of the ADB's annual meeting that loans to China and India held more significance than the dollar amounts given out.

"It enables these two countries and also us to be able to bring in best international practices in project implementation, policy issues and safeguards," he told Reuters late on Saturday. "I think for these countries it helps to have an external agency providing that."

Last year, India accounted for $2.88 billion of the ADB's total ordinary loans of $10.45 billion, while China came in at second spot with $1.75 billion. Other major recipients included Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Nag acknowledged that many of the ADB's donors had expressed reservations about the amount of lending to the two Asian powerhouses.But he added: "If we are going to seriously attack the issue of poverty in Asia and the Pacific, you are really talking about China and India.