EX-IM BANK SIGNS THREE AGREEMENTS TO BOOST US TRADE WITH INDIA
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) today signed a series of key trade-finance agreements with three Indian financial institutions to facilitate nearly $1 billion in US exports to India. The three agreements, which were signed in conjunction with the official state visit of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, follow a major effort to increase US-Indian trade that began with visits to India earlier this year by President Clinton and Ex-Im Bank Chairman James A. Harmon.
These agreements reinforce Ex-Im Bank's commitment to help the United States expand and deepen its commercial relationship with India, said Ex-Im Bank Vice Chair Jackie Clegg, who signed the agreements in the presence of US Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta and Indian Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC. We believe that India is poised to become a major player in the global economy, and we want to do everything that we can to assist US businesses in tapping into the Indian market.
Under a $500 million Memorandum of Understanding with the State Bank of India (SBI) — signed by Ms. Clegg and Mr. S. Sundar, Chief General Manager of SBI — financing will be made available to small and medium-sized Indian companies to help them buy US goods and services. Another Memorandum of Understanding — signed with Mr. S.K. Chakrabarti, Deputy Managing Director of the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) — contemplates a $150 million Master Credit Facility under which Bank of America would be the guaranteed lender, and a $150 million in financing under a separate Master Guarantee Agreement whereby IDBI would be a guaranteed lender.
The third document, a Master Guarantee Agreement — signed with Mr. Y.B. Desai, Managing Director of the Export-Import Bank of India — will allow Ex-Im India to provide financing to Indian firms under an Ex-Im Bank guarantee. This agreement solidifies a $500 million Memorandum of Understanding signed earlier this year.
Ex_Im Bank is open for short-, medium- and long-term export financing in India's public and private sectors, and has been involved in the Indian market for more than 40 years. Since 1990, Ex-Im Bank has increased its support for Indian buyers more than twelve-fold to $1.8 billion in outstanding loans and guarantees.
Ex-Im Bank is the official export credit agency of the United States. Its mission is to help finance the sale of US exports primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loans, guarantees, and insurance. During fiscal year 1999, Ex-Im Bank supported nearly $17 billion in US exports.