National Australia Bank (NAB) and Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) will now offer Australian exporters additional working capital to finance their export contracts.

Under the master working capital guarantee facility, EFIC will provide guarantees to NAB’s SME customers to allow them to access the additional working capital they need to finance their international business growth.

EFIC’s export working capital guarantee will cover a minimum of A$500,000 and will support a single export contract or numerous contracts with different buyers, EFIC says in a statement.

NAB’s executive general manager, working capital services, David Gall says: “International expansion is an important part of many SME’s growth aspirations, which is why we’re focussed on developing solutions to support our customer’s working capital and funding needs.”

EFIC’s executive director, SME and mid-market, Stuart Neilson adds: “Some of the exporters EFIC has supported have really innovative products and incredible business acumen, but their business growth has put pressure on their finances and the value of their assets is insufficient to enable the lender to provide additional finance.”