U.S. Export-Import Bank Hindered by Budget Fight, Hochberg Says

(Bloomberg, Washington, 23 August 2013) The U.S. Export-Import Bank’s ability to compete with similar lenders from nations including China and Brazil has been hurt by questions stemming from last year’s reauthorization fight, according to the bank’s chairman. Fred Hochberg said reporters have asked him on recent trips abroad about the bank’s future, after it survived a Republican campaign last year to end its lending authority. Its $140 billion lending limit runs through September 2014. “That uncertainty is damaging to U.S. competitiveness,” Hochberg said today in an interview at the bank’s headquarters in Washington.