The government is set to receive US$5million (T$11.5m) more from the Asian Development Bank (A.D.B).

The money is a policy-based grant to help Samoa strengthen its fiscal resilience and improve Samoa’s macroeconomic stability. 

The grant is extended from its Asian Development Fund resources for subprogram one of the Samoa Fiscal Resilience Improvement Programme.

 “The Samoa Fiscal Resilience Improvement Program is policy-based, meaning the funds can be released as budget support once policy actions outlined in the programme are successfully completed,” said A.D.B Senior Public Management Officer, Shiu Raj Singh. 

“Strengthened public sector management and better-performing S.O.Es will also allow for improved service delivery, which is essential to inclusive growth.” 

Subprogramme one’s outputs aim to cover a range of measures to strengthen fiscal resilience including: Reducing fiscal drain through state-owned enterprise reform, improving procurement systems and debt management, and promoting resilience to climate change. The program grant will also contribute positively to the country’s foreign exchange reserves. 

The full programme is set to 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 government’s medium-term fiscal framework and is coordinated with Australia, European Union, New Zealand and the World Bank.   

A.D.B has been working with Samoa since 1966, with approved loans, Asian Development Fund grants, and technical assistance totaling $340.46 million.

A.D.B, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.

Established in 1966, ADB in December 2016 will mark 50 years of development partnership in the region. It is owned by 67 members – 48 from the region. In 2015, ADB assistance totaled $27.2 billion, including cofinancing of $10.7 billion.