(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, 21 December 2010) — The insured value of total export credit and short-term export credit of the China Export & Credit Insurance Corp. are expected to rank first among world’s official export credit insurance institutions by the end of this year. By December 10, the insured value of export credit of the company hit US$150.16 billion, up 71.8 % year on year.

(Dow Jones, Brussels, 21 December 2010)- The European Commission Tuesday authorized one year extensions to short-term export-credit insurance programs in Denmark, Finland and Germany.

(Bloomberg, Paris, 21 December 2010) Airbus and Boeing planes will become more expensive to buy using state-guaranteed export financing under a draft agreement struck today by the U.S., France and five other countries. The OECD brokered proposal still needs final approval from governments by 20 January 2011. It would raise premiums charged for export guarantees to reduce distortions to competition between airlines. The rule change is designed to answer concerns among OECD based airlines that are excluded from receiving guarantees because Boeing and Airbus build planes there. Carriers such as British Airways Plc and Delta Air Lines Inc. said the cheaper funding terms favored rivals such as Ryanair Holdings Plc and Dubai-based Emirates.

At the end of 2009, the Spanish parliament will vote on reforming the main public mechanisms that generate external debt owed by Southern countries to the Spanish state. The mechanisms that will be affected by the reform are the Development Aid Fund (FAD) and the Spanish Company of Credit Insurance to Exports (CESCE), the Spanish Export Credit Agency. If the reform goes ahead, impoverished countries risk falling further into debt and human rights violations will become more prevalent.

(International Rivers Network, Berkeley, 2 December 2009) The Ilisu Dam on the Tigris is a primary example of a dam that violates international social and environmental standards. Western financiers pulled out of the project in summer, but China is now considering filling the gap. Such support would be a huge setback for the affected communities and international civil society, and would express contempt for the environmental standards which China has helped to establish.

(OECD ECG, Paris, 22 December 2009) The OECD Members of the Working Party on Export Credits and Credit Guarantees (ECG) submit their cash flow results for officially supported export credits to the OECD Secretariat on an annual basis. Tables I, II, III, IV and V represent the results for 2008 and previous years, which are expressed in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). Information in respect of Category A and B projects (i.e. those projects with high and medium potential environmental impacts) are notified by ECG Members pursuant to the 2007 OECD Recommendation on Common Approaches on the Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits. The last overall statistics for OECD Member ECAs are for 2005, published in January 2007.

(China Knowledge, Shanghai, 23 December 2009) – China’s short-term export credit doubled year on year to US$86.23 billion in the period from Jan.1 to Dec. 14, according to China Export and Credit Insurance Corp. Export credit insurance amounted to US$110.03 billion, with indemnity of US$440 million by Dec. 18. Short-term export credit was US$86.23 billion, up 121.5% year on year.

(Vanguard Media, Lagos, 14 December 2009) Debtors to the Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) have taken flight to safety following indications that the management of the bank would engage the help of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to recover the over Naira 10 billion non-performing loans in its books.

(Wall Street Journal, New York, 10 December 2009) Airlines are struggling amid the global recession. Boeing Co., meanwhile, is churning out jetliners at its fastest clip in years…due in large part to one man: Bob Morin, vice president of transportation at the U.S. Export-Import Bank who stumps the globe to rally sales for America’s biggest exporter.

(Trend, Vienna, 11 December 2009) The EBRD, European Investment Bank, IFC and other financial institutions can provide €1 to €1.5 billion for financing the Nabucco pipeline project designed to deliver gas from the Caspian region and the Middle East to the EU, said member of the EBRD Board of Directors Kalin Mitrev at the “Nabucco & South Stream” Forum in Vienna. Mitrev said that from €2 to €3 billion in financing for the project accounts for export credit agencies and commercial banks. He said that today the cost of the project is €8 billion, but in future it may increase.