Export Import Bank Financing For Small Businesses PDF Download

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the U.S. Export-Import Bank's (Eximbank) compliance with the small business set-aside provision of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, focusing on: (1) the quality of Eximbank small business data; (2) the amount of export financing Eximbank made available directly to small businesses; (3) whether Eximbank properly included indirect financing to subcontractors in its small business set-aside calculation; and (4) recent developments in Eximbank efforts to assist small businesses. GAO found that: (1) Eximbank uses estimates made by large exporters and an insurance association to calculate the amount of assistance it provides to small businesses, which makes its data unreliable; (2) because the law provides no clear guidance, Eximbank includes indirect assistance to small businesses in its calculation of its compliance with the 10-percent set-aside provision, which was not Congress' intent; (3) when indirect assistance was excluded, Eximbank did not meet the 10-percent requirement in 2 of the 6 years examined; and (4) Eximbank has increased its efforts to provide greater assistance to small businesses by establishing a group to centralize, coordinate, and integrate its small business activities, streamlining the approval process of some assistance applications, and changing several programs.