Asian Bank Locates $6 Billion for Loans: Will Use the Cash for Public Projects

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TOKYO - Despite deep cutbacks in U.S. funding, the Asian Development Bank has cobbled together a package to keep aid flowing to the region's poorest countries.

To do so the bank will have to dip into its profits for the first time ever instead of relying exclusively on contributions from its 23 donor nations.

After a contentious debate that raged for more than a year, bank officials say they expect soon to finalize a $6 billion deal to replenish the Asian Development Fund (ADF).

"We have made a major breakthrough," bank President Mitsuo Sato told reporters in Tokyo recently.

Though a year behind schedule, the new four-year package will …