Ex-Im Bank Finishes Fiscal Year Strong

Recently, the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank) Chairman Fred P. Hochberg announced that the agency provided over $5 billion in financing for U.S. small business exports and supported 164,000 American jobs in fiscal year (FY) 2014. The agency also supported over $2 billion in minority- and women-owned business exports by providing financing and insurance totaling approximately $750 million. The Bank reports that, over the last five years Ex-Im has authorized more loans to help grow minority- and women-owned businesses than over the previous two administrations combined.

Ex-Im helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by filling gaps in private export financing at no cost to American taxpayers—providing a variety of financial guarantees to help foreign buyers purchase U.S. goods and services.

Ex-Im Bank’s financing continues to play an integral role in supporting American jobs and boosting U.S. exports, primarily in circumstances when alternative financing is not available. By providing a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees and export credit insurance, Ex-Im Bank levels the playing field so that U.S. small businesses can compete in the global marketplace. Its strong support for small businesses accounts for nearly 90 percent of the Bank’s customers.

Some additional key highlights from FY 2014 include:

• In FY 2014, Ex-Im Bank authorized approximately $20.5 billion to support 164,000 U.S. jobs.
• Of the 3,746 transactions Ex-Im Bank approved in FY 2014, 3,347, or almost 90 percent, supported American small businesses.
• Of the total dollar amount authorized by Ex-Im Bank in FY 2014, small business authorizations accounted for 24.7 percent, or more than $5 billion.
• The total value of exports supported by Ex-Im Bank amounted to almost $27.5 billion, $10.7 billion (39 percent) of which accounted for small business export value.
• Ex-Im Bank authorized $2 billion, a record-high dollar value, for sub-Saharan African transactions.
• Approximately $675 million in deficit-reducing receipts was transferred to the U.S. Treasury’s General Fund.

Ex-Im operates under a renewable charter and the Bank’s most recent reauthorization was passed by Congress as part of a government funding continuing resolution in mid- September. However, Congress only approved of a temporary extension of the Bank’s authority through June 30, 2015. Now lawmakers continue to struggle with deciding its fate which draws attention to the next hurdle: passing a long-term reauthorization.

The Small Business Exporters Association (SBEA) is committed to educating Congress about the Bank’s critical role in supporting American small-business exports and jobs in the face of competition with aggressive support from other Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) as well as the need for a competitive Ex-Im Bank. SBEA’s continued focus is on working to ensure Congress enacts a longer renewal, such as four to five years, which will enhance the Bank’s long-term planning and provide more assurance to the countless small- and mid-size exporters who rely on it.