U.S. Ex-Im Satellite Loans Likely To Hit $1.4B
(Space News, Paris, 21 September 2012) The U.S. Export-Import Bank is likely to finish 2012 having invested a record $1.4 billion in satellite projects on behalf of U.S. satellite and launch services providers, according to John Schuster, Ex-Im’s director of structured finance. “This is a huge, huge growth” for the bank, which in the past couple of years has been as active as France’s Coface export-credit agency in financing satellite investments. Answering critics who say Ex-Im, Coface and the other export-credit agencies are propping up satellite projects that have no solid business case, Schuster said Ex-Im has a requirement that the default rate on its loans not exceed 2 percent. It is now about one-half of 1 percent, he said.