About ADB

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) was founded in 1966 with the primary mission of fostering growth and cooperation among countries in the Asia-Pacific Region.
• It is headquartered in Manila, Philippines. 
• At present, ADB comprises 68 members (including India)- of which 49 are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside.
• The ADB was modeled closely on the World Bank, and has a similar weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with members’ capital subscriptions.
• The two largest shareholders of the ADB are the US and Japan. 
• ADB is an official United Nations Observer.

Why in News?

• A new working paper published by the Asian Development Bank has noted that the gross domestic product (GDP) of India, which is among the countries with the longest school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, would see the highest decline in South Asia due to learning losses for the young.
• Starting with a $10.5 billion dent in 2023, the country’s economy could take a nearly $99 billion hit by 2030, translating into a 3.19% reduction in GDP from the baseline growth trends, according to the paper on ‘Potential Economic Impact of COVID-19 related School Closures’.
• India may thus account for over 10% of the global GDP decline of $943 billion estimated by the ADB on account of earning losses in 2030, with jobs for skilled labour expected to decline by 1%, and unskilled labour by 2% that year.
• Economies with a significant population of schoolchildren and college-going youth in rural areas and in the poorest and second wealth quintile — have been worst-hit as they lack access to stable Internet connection needed to study online.
• Learning and earning losses are significant because a notable portion of the impacted population will migrate to the unskilled labour force. A large part of India’s work force is constituted by unskilled labour — 408.4 million as per the ADB paper’s estimates, compared to 72.65 million skilled workers.

Reference:

https://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/indias-gdp-to-take-a-big-hit-due-to-pandemic-linked-learning-losses-for-students-adb-study/article65464258.ece