The Export-Import Bank of the United States (US Ex-Im) has topped US$70bn in total credits outstanding – the highest level in the bank’s 75 year history.
This milestone was reached with the authorisation of a US$3bn financing to support US exports for a liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea – the bank’s single largest transaction – also a record.
Since the fiscal year began on October 1, the bank has authorised US$7.5bn in transactions, compared with US$1bn for the same period last year. In fiscal 2009, the bank set a record of US$21bn in authorisations, and a record of US$4.36bn in authorisations for small business exporters.
US Ex-Im’s financings this year have been for US businesses large and small in a wide variety of sectors, including satellites to provide telecommunications services in Eastern Europe and North Africa; the first export for a California-based wind turbine company; and an export of locomotives and mining equipment from companies in Illinois and Wisconsin to Canada.
“US Ex-Im continues to provide a record-breaking amount of financing for American exporters,” says US Ex-Im chairman and president Fred Hochberg. “We are stepping into the breach when traditional sources of capital are reluctant to offer financing.”
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