Participants to the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits have agreed to allow more generous and flexible financing terms for a wide range of climate-friendly projects.

A modernisation package agreed in principle by Participants will specifically allow countries to offer greater support for green projects while also expanding the use of export credits in the context of an evolving world economy and an increasingly competitive landscape.

Within the package of reforms, the Participants agreed to expand the scope of green or climate-friendly projects eligible for longer repayment terms, as permitted under the Climate Change Sector Understanding (CCSU) to include those related to:

•    environmentally sustainable energy production;
•    C02 capture storage and transportation;
•    transmission, distribution and storage of energy ;
•    clean hydrogen and ammonia;
•    low-emissions manufacturing;
•    zero and low-emissions transport; and
•    clean energy minerals and ores.

“The modernisation package agreed by Participants to the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits is a great milestone to help increase the impact of trade and finance flows on securing our climate objectives,” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said. “It will allow the scaling up and a better targeting of public and private finance to support climate-friendly investments and help us meet our global net zero emissions objective.”

The package also provides more generous and more flexible financing terms and conditions for all projects eligible for the CCSU, as well as for all other transactions supported according to the Arrangement by:

•    increasing the maximum repayment term up to 22 years for CCSU-eligible projects, and 15 years for most other projects;
•    introducing further repayment flexibilities; and
•    adjusting the minimum premium rates for credit risk for longer repayment terms and obligors with a higher credit risk rating.

This reform is expected to come into effect later this year, once Participants complete their formal internal decision-making processes and agree to the new Arrangement text.

Governments provide officially supported export credits through Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) in support of national exporters competing for overseas sales. Such support can take the form either of “official financing support,” such as direct credits to foreign buyers or refinancing or interest-rate support, or of “pure cover support,” such as export credits insurance or guarantee cover for credits provided by private financial institutions. ECAs can be government institutions or private companies operating on behalf of governments.

The OECD has a long tradition of rule-making in the area of officially supported export credits, dating back to 1963. It provides a forum for exchanging information on member countries’ export credits systems and business activities and for discussing and coordinating national export credits policies relating to good governance issues, such as anti-bribery measures, environmental and social due diligence, and sustainable lending. These discussions take place under the auspices of the Working Party on Export Credits and Credit Guarantees.

The OECD is also a forum for maintaining, developing and monitoring the financial disciplines for export credits, which are contained within the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits. These disciplines stipulate the most generous financial terms and conditions that Members may offer when providing officially supported export credits. Discussions relating to the Arrangement take place under the auspices of the Participants to the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits.

The Participants to the Arrangement are Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States.