ADB Deploys $4 Billion for Middle East Crisis-Hit Nations

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — ADB Mobilizes $4 Billion for 15 Nations Hit by Middle East Conflict Fallout

The Asian Development Bank is deploying $4 billion to cushion member states from the economic and social spillovers of the Middle East conflict, with formal funding requests already received from 15 countries across the region.

ADB President Masato Kanda said the bank would move swiftly across its full range of crisis response instruments to deliver timely support. Of the total package, approximately $3 billion responds to direct government requests, while a further $1 billion will flow through trade finance mechanisms to secure fuel and food imports.

Individual country financing needs range from $15 million to $1.5 billion, to be delivered through a combination of programmatic loans, countercyclical financing, reallocation of funds from existing projects, and emergency lending.

The package addresses multiple transmission channels of the conflict's economic impact: pressure on public finances, disruptions to energy and food supply chains, reduced remittance flows from migrant workers, and damage to the tourism sector.

India's request for $1.5 billion is being considered separately. The funds are earmarked for a $1 billion Urban Transformation and Investment Programme and a $500 million affordable solar energy systems project. The ADB noted that the investments would broaden access to clean energy, reduce dependence on imported fuel, develop local production capacity, and strengthen long-term energy security.

The bank also reactivated oil import financing through its Supply Chain and Trade Finance Programme. Since early March, the programme has disbursed $673 million for oil and gas procurement and $390 million for food security support across nine countries in the region.

Additional measures include extending trade finance coverage to the Cook Islands and deploying the Rapid Resource Reprogramming and Deployment Option to support Vanuatu — a mechanism that allows rapid reallocation of funds from active projects to address crises and emergencies.

Founded in 1966, the ADB counts 69 member states, including 50 from Asia and the Pacific. The bank finances projects across infrastructure, sustainable development, energy, and social support, with a mandate focused on economic growth and resilience to external shocks.