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PROJECT ADMINISTRATION INSTRUCTIONS
PAI No. 6.06
Revised on June 2024

PROJECT COMPLETION REPORT FOR SOVEREIGN OPERATIONS1
      1 In this PAI, the term “loan(s)” includes grant(s) and the term “project(s)” includes program(s), unless the context requires otherwise. This PAI also applies to loans from external sources that are administered by ADB, unless agreed otherwise between ADB and cofinancier(s).

1. This Project Administration Instruction (PAI) provides the requirements and procedures for project2 completion report (PCR).

      2 ‘Project’ is defined as a project with its unique design and monitoring framework (DMF), regardless of the number of its financing instruments (generic means of providing or facilitating financing), products or sources (comprising ADB financing such as regular ordinary capital resources [OCR], concessional OCR [COL], Asian Development Fund [ADF], other special funds, cofinancing, and government financing). Hereafter, ‘project’ includes investment project, sector project, financial intermediation loans, policy-based lending including COVID-19 Pandemic Response Option (CPRO), results-based lending, sector development program, multitranche financing facility (MFF) and its tranches, technical assistance (TA) loan, project readiness financing loan, and small expenditure financing facility Activity. If a TA is attached to a project, the project includes the TA. A ‘product’ has its own approval number. For example, if a project is financed by an OCR, COL and an ADF grant, the project has three products.

A. Objective and Scope

2. The main objective of a PCR is to evaluate the performance of sovereign operations to enhance transparency and accountability, and learn from operational experience in the design and implementation of loan projects. These lessons are expected to be used to improve the design and implementation of ongoing and future Asian Development Bank (ADB)-financed projects. All PCRs are validated by the Independent Evaluation Department.3 Ratings in project validation reports are reported annually in the Development Effectiveness Review and used as an input to country partnership strategy formulation and review. A PCR

      4 In this PAI, the term “borrower” also refers to recipients of grants, unless the context requires otherwise.

B. PCR Circulation Requirement

3. One PCR per project should be circulated to the Board within 12 months5 after the financial closing date of the project.6 Exceptions for PCR circulation due time are:

      5 If a PCR was circulated to the Board in January, in case the circulation due date of the PCR is in the fourth quarter of the previous year, it is regarded that the PCR was circulated within the due date.
      6 The financial closing date is the actual loan account closing date. The financial closing date of the project is the last financial closing date of all products under the project.
      7 Guidelines for Preparing and Using a Design and Monitoring Framework: Sovereign Operations and Technical Assistance.
      8 The 24 months could be extended up to 48 months if there is any communication from or understanding with, in writing, the cofinancier on the progress and completion of the cofinancier’s portion.

C. PCR Programming, Monitoring and Reporting

4. The regional departments (RDs) in coordination with Sectors Group should prepare the annual PCR program with support from the Portfolio Management Division (PFPM) of Procurement, Portfolio, and Financial Management Department, which includes all PCRs due in the year. If exceptions in para. 3 apply, justifications should be provided. PFPM will seek approval of the annual PCR program from the President. PFPM informs the Board of the annual PCR program.

5. The RDs and Sectors Group should jointly monitor the status of PCR circulation. The RDs should submit the achievement of PCR circulation against the annual PCR program on a quarterly basis to PFPM. PFPM informs the Board of the updates on the annual PCR program through the quarterly portfolio updates.

D. Preparatory Activities for PCR and Borrower’s PCR

6. When the project is approaching physical completion for investment projects or loan closing date for PBLs and results-based lendings, the project team should agree with the EA during the ADB review mission on the outline and timing for the government’s PCR and the timing of the PCR mission. A project is complete when all its outputs are completed (i.e., when the project’s facilities are completed and ready to operate. If revenue streams are envisaged, then these should be occurring). The PCR preparation should consider the timing of data collection if the project needs to see a full year of operation to assess the achievement of the outcome.

7. The EA prepares the borrower’s PCR for self-evaluation which will also help with the preparation of ADB’s PCR. If the borrower’s PCR is delayed and the project is deemed physically complete, the sector project administration unit head may, after consultation with the EA and considering the findings of the last review mission, decide to proceed with preparing ADB’s PCR in the absence of the borrower’s PCR.

8. ADB helps the EA produce the borrower’s PCR by advising them on the required contents and format based on ADB templates on the Office of the Secretary website. The contents of the borrower’s PCR could be reduced based on discussions with the EA, but a description on the design and monitoring framework, due diligence, project cost and financial sources for each component, and compliance status with loan covenants is essential. Assistance in preparing the borrower’s PCR is usually included in the terms of reference of project implementation consultants. Other agencies may help prepare the borrower’s PCR, especially for projects they cofinanced, following ADB's PCR template.

9. PCR preparation missions should be conducted timely following PAI 6.02 (Project and Technical Assistance Administration Missions).Any issue or matter requiring action during PCR preparation should be promptly presented to the sector director (SD) and country director for country-specific issues. If a mission was not fielded, the reasons should be indicated in the PCR.

E. One ADB Team Approach for PCR Preparation9

      9 For project team members and other supporting departments/offices, refer to Staff Instruction on Business Processes for Sovereign and Sovereign-Guaranteed Financing.

10. The project team proactively contributes to and takes responsibility for the preparation of their respective parts of the PCR within their functional area, ensuring quality in their parts of the PCR. The project team members will seek guidance and clearance from their functional reporting line, where necessary. The project team leader (PTL) retains the overall responsibility for PCR preparation, ensuring the quality and sufficiency of the PCR, and compliance with relevant PCR requirements.

11. In addition to the contribution from the project team members in their respective functional areas, the PTL should consult with the country operations head (COH), the Partner Funds Division of the Climate Change and Sustainable Development Department if the project is cofinanced, Office of Anticorruption and Integrity if a proactive integrity review (PIR) was conducted on the project, Office of the Compliance Review Panel if the project went through a compliance review, and the Office of the Special Project Facilitator if the project went through an accountability mechanism complaint review. The PTL should consult with other supporting departments/offices as necessary. The role of other supporting departments/offices is to review the draft PCR, provide advice and support to the project team in evaluating results of the project and providing lessons learned if necessary in their respective functional areas.

12. Once the project team concludes drafting the PCR, the PTL shares the draft PCR (locked to prevent further editing) with the project team; COH; regional head, operations coordination (RHOC); and the supporting departments/offices (if applicable) for their confirmation within 5 business days.

13. If there are remaining unresolved issues between the PTL and the concerned department/office, the SD convenes a resolution meeting at the request of the PTL or director/head from concerned department/office to resolve the issues. The SD will chair the resolution meeting, facilitate the resolutions and make the decision, normally within 5 business days to proceed with the PCR or instruct the project team to take further actions.

F. PCR Approval and Circulation

14. If there are no remaining issues, the PTL will submit the PCR to the SD, in consultation with the RHOC and COH (consultation is not needed if there are no substantial changes), for approval to send to the borrower, EAs, IAs, and cofinancier(s) if any, inviting their comments within a reasonable period (normally 15 working days). After consideration of their comments, the PCR is edited, finalized, and submitted to the senior sector director (SSD) for approval and circulation to the Board, with the concurrence of the RHOC.

G. PCR Content, Length, and Templates

15. In circulating the PCR, the project team should utilize information provided in back-to-office reports of review missions, project management information in eOperations, and, in accordance with para. 11, PIR and compliance review-related reports. The PCR should analyze the problems encountered and issues raised during project implementation and include lessons learned from various review reports, including PIR reports. The main text of the PCR should not exceed 15 pages, single-spaced. In case of a facility completion report (FCR) of the multitranche financing facility (MFF) combined with its last financially closed tranche, the page limit of the main text should not exceed 18 pages. Appendixes should be limited to those considered essential to justify the explanations in the text

16. To reflect the methodologies used for self-evaluation at completion through the PCR and for the project performance evaluation report, the PCR should follow the Guidelines for the Evaluation of Public Sector Operations published by the Independent Evaluation Department. Templates of PCRs and descriptions of their contents are accessible through the Office of the Secretary Information Access Unit’s SharePoint site: Board Document Templates.

17. A PCR is kept concise by:

H. Specific Procedures for Various Modalities and Financing10

      10 Results-based lending follows the Staff Instruction on Business Processes for Results-Based Lending for Programs.

18. The first loan to a financial intermediary requires a detailed description of its operation and financial performance. In a subsequent loan to the financial intermediary, the PCR deals only with experience relating to the credit line and subprojects covered by the loan, with references provided to the most recent reports on the financial intermediary’s general performance and compliance with financial and institutional covenants. If the most recent available report is more than 3 years old, a detailed description of the operation and financial performance of the financial intermediary is required.

19. Under a programmatic approach of a PBL, only one PCR is circulated for all subprograms. However, if subsequent subprograms are not approved within 24 months11 after the financial closing date of the preceding subprogram, then a PCR for all financially closed subprogram(s) should be circulated within 30 months (footnote 11) after the latest financial closing date. Another PCR for subsequent subprograms should be circulated within 12 months after the last financial closing date of the subsequent subprograms.

      11 The 24 months can be extended up to 36 months if any subsequent program remains firm in the project processing pipeline. In this case, the PCR for all financially closed subprogram(s) should be circulated within 42 months from the latest financial closing date.

20. Under a stand-alone PBL program, special PBL, or countercyclical support facility lending, only one PCR is circulated regardless of the number of tranches.

21. The FCR should be circulated within 12 months after the financial closing date of the last financially closed tranche.12 An MFF tranche completion report (MTCR) for the last financially closed tranche is part of the FCR. The FCR requires an overall summary of implementation for all tranches, a detailed description of the implementation of the final tranche as well as separate project completion ratings for the facility and the last financially closed tranche.

      12 Subject to the exceptions in Section B.

22. An MTCR13 should be circulated for each tranche (excluding the last financially closed tranche) within 12 months after the financial closing date of each tranche.14 However, in cases where outputs of two or more individual tranches are the same, only one MTCR is required for these tranches. In this case, the MTCR should be circulated within 12 months from the financial closing date of the last financially closed tranche15 and only combined project completion ratings are provided.

      13 A project completion report for a tranche is named as tranche completion report in alignment with the Staff Instruction on Business Processes for the Multitranche Financing Facility.
      14 Subject to the exceptions in Section B.
      15 Subject to the exceptions in Section B.

23. In case of an MFF which supported a large stand-alone project16 or if outputs of all tranches under the MFF are the same,17 only an FCR is required to be circulated within 12 months from the financial closing date of the last financially closed tranche with a detailed description of implementation for all tranches and a project completion rating for the facility.

      16 Definition of MFF which supported a large stand-alone project follows para. 6 of the Staff Instruction on Business Processes for the Multitranche Financing Facility.
      17 MFFs which were approved before 31 January 2022 and considered to be equivalent to an MFF supporting a large stand-alone project.

24. The MTCR for a tranche which provided additional financing to another tranche within the facility is part of the MTCR of the tranche for the original financing. In case a subsequent tranche partially financed the previous tranche, the MTCR of the previous tranche should be circulated within 12 months after completion of the additional financing component. The MTCR provides one project completion rating including the additional financing component.

25. Additional financing for a project outside an MFF18 will be reported in the MTCR and the PCR of the relevant project. In this case, the MTCR includes a brief summary of the outputs and the cost, and the PCR of the relevant project includes rationale and project outputs and cost. The MTCR provides one project completion rating, excluding the component which financed projects outside the MFF. The PCR’s project completion rating includes the additional financing component.

      18 Para. 45 (iii) of the Staff Instruction on Business Processes for the Multitranche Financing Facility.

26. Two or more MTCRs with different outputs under the same facility can be combined as long as the combined MTCR is circulated within the earliest circulation due date of all the MTCRs. In this case, project completion ratings should be provided for each tranche.
27. Only one PCR should be circulated for the entire project covering the original loan and any additional financing within 12 months after the financial closing date of the project.19

      19 The additional financing loan should be approved according to OM Section H5 (Additional Financing). In the PCR preparation, the project team should consult the Office of Anticorruption and Integrity if significant integrity risks were identified during the processing of the additional financing in accordance with the Staff Instruction on Business Processes for the Assessment of Project Integrity Risks for Additional Financing.

5. Technical Assistance Loan or Project Readiness Financing

28. A PCR for the TA loan20 or project readiness financing (PRF) is not required when it was used for the preparation of projects which resulted in an ADB-financed project. The PCR of each resulting project should indicate how the project was prepared using the TA loan or PRF with an attached table showing the planned and actual utilization of each cost category for the resulting project. If a TA loan or PRF did not result in an ADB-financed project,21 a simplified PCR for the TA loan or PRF should be circulated within 6 months after its financial closing date.

      20 After the approval of the New Products Policy (3 July 2018), the TA loan modality has been retired. This is applicable for any ongoing TA loans.
      21 In case a TA loan or PRF supported the preparation of several ensuing projects, a simplified PCR should be circulated for every project that did not result to an ADB-financed project.

6. Small Expenditure Financing Facility Activity

29. Completion report requirements will depend on the nature of Activity, as follows:22

      22 For this reason, it is generally advisable that the project team for the ensuing loan seek Board approval for retroactive financing of the expenditures described in the Staff Instruction on Business Processes for the Small Expenditure Financing Facility.Consideration should be given to whether any expenditures were incurred more than 12 months prior to the signing of the ensuing loan. For an ongoing loan, a minor change in project may need to be approved to make such expenditures eligible for financing under the ongoing loan

30. Projects financed by a trust fund should follow the corresponding trust fund guidelines if available. A PCR is not required for a project financed by the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund. However, a grant closing report is required as per the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund: Implementation Guidelines. A PCR is required for a project financed by the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific following its guidelines.
31. If a project is cancelled without any disbursements, a PCR need not be prepared. Once a disbursement of a loan is made,23 a PCR is required, regardless of its implementation progress or amount of disbursement. For a cancelled project for which no major activities have started (for example, civil work has not started for an infrastructure project) the PCR is abbreviated, covering only project background and description, reason(s) for the cancellation, the work done, loan funds disbursed, ratings by criteria and overall project completion rating, lessons learned and recommendations.
23 If the disbursement is only for capitalization of financial charges during implementation, the PCR is not required.

I. PCR Disclosure

32. PCRs are disclosed to the Board via the ADB Disclosure Management System. Subject to the provisions of the Access to Information Policy, all PCRs are to be posted on the ADB website upon circulation to the Board.


Appendix 1


Illustrative sample of PCR circulation timeline
(guidelines should follow the main text of this PAI)

PAI 6.06 (Appendix 1).pdfPAI 6.06 (Appendix 1).pdf