WASHINGTON: Hopes for a quick revival of the shuttered Export-Import Bank were dashed on Tuesday as the US Congress moved toward a short-term extension of highway funding without a provision to renew the trade bank’s expired charter.

That means Ex-Im could be dead in the water for another two months or more, pressuring US exporters who rely on it and meaning it may have to start procedures to wind down operations.

With the House of Representatives adjourning on Wednesday for five weeks, the next legislative chance for Ex-Im backers to put it back in business will not come until September or October. Meanwhile, bank opponents who label it a nest of “crony capitalism” said that the longer the bank is idled, the closer it comes to a full shutdown. Here are some of the issues involved.

IDLED STATE: Ex-Im’s roughly 450 employees are still on the job in Washington and around the world, but cannot solicit or process new export credit deals, though compliance work goes on a $112 billion portfolio of outstanding commitments.

The trade bank last year provided $20.5bn in financing, loan guarantees and trade insurance, supporting $27.5bn in export sales that it said translated to 164,000 million US jobs. When Ex-Im’s charter expired on June 30, about 195 transactions were frozen with requested financing and guarantee amounts totalling $9.1bn.

UNRAVELING DEALS: Without reauthorisation, these contracts will begin to unwind in coming months, with companies finding alternative financing or foreign customers switching to other suppliers. Boeing Co has said near-term it will self-finance some aircraft sales to developing countries, but cannot sustain this long-term.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2015

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