The US Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) has been handed a nine-month reprieve as the US House of Representatives has agreed to extend the bank’s charter to complete outstanding spending. The bill will need to be passed by September 30 when Ex-Im Bank’s charter expires or else the government bank will be shut down.
Boeing issued the following statement following House passage of the continuing resolution that temporarily reauthorizes the Ex-Im Bank:
"Congress has left thousands of small, medium and large U.S. exporters and their workers in limbo until the middle of next year and this will likely negatively impact U.S. sales to foreign customers. We will continue to press Congress for a multi-year reauthorization of Ex-Im."
Ex-Im Bank has many Republicans and Democrats lobbying hard against it, as well as US airlines that claim the bank is aiding foreign competitors. Ex-Im Bank has also been criticized as being Boeing’s bank. However Ex-Im Bank President Fred Hochberg has reiterated the bank’s claim that it exists to support American jobs and businesses. He recently claimed that the bank would finance Airbus aircraft if they were assembled in the United States with sufficient content from domestic suppliers.
This could happen. Airbus broke ground on constriction of its $600-million facility in Mobile, Alabama last year, with aircraft assembly scheduled to begin in 2015 and the first delivery targeted for 2016.
Meanwhile, back in the spring of 2014 we told you that IndiGo would be forced to go to ICBC for advantageous terms as other lessors place a premium on Indian business. Today we had confirmation of a deal between the two for a combination of sale and lease-back, financial lease and commercial lending of 30 A320Ceos delivering from spring 2015. The announcement was timed as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in India for trade talks. This still leaves 150 A320Neos to fight for but the deal comes at a good time for the airline to start moving towards its IPO (see APAC section for further information).