While Moktan opts not to discuss individual countries, a look at recent assistance approvals shows a marked concentration on Bangladesh, which received 12 distinct loans and technical assistance grants around governance in the month to April 16 alone. Naturally, a group like the ADB has to practice what it preaches, and 18% of the cases investigated last year involved ADB staff members.

Moktan takes a pragmatic attitude to the level of success  that can be hoped for. “If we were going to have no corruption in any of our projects, we wouldn’t have any projects,” she says. “Our position, like the World Bank, is zero tolerance: once we discover it, we absolutely do not tolerate it.”

This article appeared in the Asian Development Bank edition of IFR Asia

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