Korea Eximbank to Extend 62 Tril. Won in Loans to Exporters and Importers

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) will extend a total of 62 trillion won (US$54.87 billion) in loans to domestic import and export companies this year, up 4.1 trillion won from 2018.

Korea Eximbank CEO Eun Sung-soo announced the bank’s business plan for this year during a news conference at Bankers Club in the Korea Federation of Banks’ building in Seoul on Jan. 24. “Korea Eximbank now has a bigger role to play as uncertainty has increased.”
 

The bank will provide 49 trillion won (US$43.46 billion), mostly in loans, to exporters or companies engaged in overseas projects, an increase of 1 trillion won from 2018. The remaining 13 trillion won (US$11.50 billion) will be provided to construction, plant and shipbuilding companies in the form of payment guarantees. The figure represents an increase of 3.9 trillion won from 2018.

The bank will strengthen business development and financial arrangement for new overseas orders. To this end, the bank will designate the top 10 emerging markets as core strategic countries and focus its support on them by 2020.

It is also planning to come up with a portfolio differentiated by sector, such as construction, plant, shipbuilding and shipping, considering risks of emerging markets. For instance, the bank will concentrate its support to higher value-added investment development business, instead of simple subcontract, in the construction and plant sector. Meanwhile, it will adopt a flexible approach to the auto industry which does not have brisk market conditions by reducing the limit from lower sales and lower credit rating and temporarily delaying a rise in interest rates.