The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) opened in Iraq to help finance short-term and medium-term sales of US exports to Iraqi buyers in both the public and private sectors.

Short-term insurance is available for transactions with repayment terms of 180 days or less, and up to 360 days for capital goods, the baank said. Medium-term insurance, loan guarantees and loans are available for transactions with terms of up to seven years, it added.

"Iraq's economy is growing, offering specific opportunities for U.S. exporters in a variety of industries. Ex-Im Bank can help by reducing the repayment risk, especially for small businesses at this time," said Ex-Im Bank Board member Bijan R. Kian.

Ex-Im Bank, he said, can provide export-credit insurance, loan guarantees and direct loans for creditworthy export sales to Iraq.

The Bank's working capital guarantees (which help US exporters or their suppliers to obtain funds to produce or buy goods or services for export) are available to support exports to Iraq.

Kian said the Bank could also consider providing long-term support where there were financing arrangements that eliminate or externalise country risks, such as asset-backed financings and structures that earn revenues offshore in a third country.

Ex-Im Bank, an independent, self-sustaining federal-government agency, helps create and maintain US jobs by filling gaps in export financing and strengthening US export competitiveness.

The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees to help small and medium-sized US businesses, export-credit insurance to protect against nonpayment by foreign buyers, and loan guarantees and direct loans to assist foreign buyers of US goods and services.

In fiscal 2009, overall Ex-Im Bank financing totaled $21 billion, and authorizations supporting small-business exports reached a historic high of $4.4 billion, nearly 21 percent of total authorizations, Kian said.

In the first nine months of fiscal 2010 (through June 2010), Ex-Im Bank authorised $17.4 billion in loans, guarantees and insurance - more than the total amount authorized in fiscal 2008.-TradeArabia News Service