Ex-Im Bank Tops $70 Billion in Total Outstanding Credits, Reaches Highest Level Ever

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 8, 2009
Media Contact Name/Phone
Phil Cogan (202-565-3203)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has topped $70 billion in total credits outstanding - the highest level in the Bank's 75 year history. This milestone was reached with the authorization of a $3 billion financing to support U.S. 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 authorized $7.5 billion in transactions, compared with $1 billion for the same period last year. In fiscal 2009, the bank set a record of $21 billion in authorizations, and a record of $4.36 billion in authorizations for small business exporters.

Ex-Im Bank's financings this year have been for U. S. 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.

Ex-Im Bank continues to provide a record-breaking amount of financing for American exporters, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. We are stepping into the breach when traditional sources of capital are reluctant to offer financing.

Ex-Im Bank, an independent, self-sustaining federal agency, now in its 75th year, helps to create and maintain U.S. jobs by financing the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loan guarantees, export-credit insurance and direct loans. More information is available on the Bank's web site at www.exim.gov.