14/10/2011
The turmoil that has colored the international capital markets over the last months is choking banks’ access to a vital raw material: funding in US dollar. Consequentially, banks tighten the offering of long-term lending. This hits exporters and project owners around the world. At the same time, specialized export credit agencies (ECAs) experience a lending growth that has multiplied.
This was the main theme of the annual Global Export Finance conference in Berlin on October 11-12, where Eksportfinans was represented among the 500 delegates from export credit agencies, banks and exporters.The banks' challenging funding conditions make long-term financing, especially with maturities over five years, come in short supply. Eksportfinans has a higher credit rating tan the banks and therefore has easier and cheaper access to long-term US dollar funding. In a time of market turmoil, Eksportfinans is particularly important as a source of funding for the Norwegian export industry.
Eksportfinans' director of lending, Mr. Olav E. Rygg, participated in a panel debate on the financing of offshore vessels, together with, among others, Ms. Wenche Nistad of the Norwegian export credit institute (GIEK). Mr. Rygg told about the strong growth that Eksportfinans has seen in this segment over the last five or six years and about the industry's unique opportunities in Brazil in the years to come.
The delegates learned about strong growth among several central export credit agencies since the financial crisis in 2008, since public participants fill the space left by commercial banks. The guarantee institutes Hermes of Germany, Ex-Im Bank of the US, GIEK of Norway and EKF of Denmark have all experienced a doubling or a tripling of total credit exposure during the time that has passed since the collapse of Lehman in the autumn of 2008. In the same period, Eksportfinans has had close to a doubling of export-related lending.