Aug 17 | 2020
Part of EXIM’s Commitment to $5 Billion MOU with Republic of Iraq Ministry of Finance
Photo caption: Dr. Fuad Hussein, Republic of Iraq Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and Kimberly A. Reed, EXIM President and Chairman, sign MOU for up to $5 billion in EXIM financing on October 16, 2019, at EXIM’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Board of Directors unanimously voted to notify the U.S. Congress, pursuant to the law, of its consideration of a potential transaction that would facilitate the authorization of $450 million of insurance coverage on letters of credit issued by the Trade Bank of Iraq for the purchase of U.S. goods and services, such as agricultural commodities, including wheat and rice, and engineering services. If approved, the facility would support an estimated 1,700 jobs across the United States.
Private-sector trade finance insurers are unavailable for this transaction, and EXIM support will protect U.S. exporters against the risk of buyer non-payment. EXIM support may be extended only where there is a “reasonable assurance of repayment” and should supplement, not compete with, private capital. This transaction meets these requirements.
On October 16, 2019, EXIM President and Chairman Kimberly Reed and Republic of Iraq then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Dr. Fuad Hussein signed a $5 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Under the MOU, both parties agreed to identify potential projects in Iraq for procurement of U.S.-produced goods and services. Dr. Hussein currently is the Republic of Iraq Minister of Foreign Affairs.
ABOUT EXIM:
EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to support sales of U.S. goods and services to international buyers. A robust EXIM can level the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive support from their governments. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth by helping to create and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. In recent years, approximately 90 percent of the total number of the agency’s authorizations has directly supported small businesses. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of U.S. debt.
For more information about EXIM, please visit www.exim.gov.
Subscribe to BreakbulkONE and receive more industry stories and updates around impact of COVID-19.
