The US House of Representatives has voted to renew the U.S. Export-Import Bank in a bipartisan 313-118 vote that will extend the bank’s charter through September 2019. The measure is now dependent on a Senate vote but it faces stiff opposition from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He has said that he won’t allow a stand-alone vote on allowing the bank to resume financing companies’ overseas sales but said that the only way reauthorization would be achieved is as an amendment to a separate highway bill.
The Obama administration supports resuming bank operations and would like the measure to pass both houses as quickly as possible. Although there is significant Senate opposition to the bill, the House vote, which was supported by 75% of the body, will be hard to ignore. In July, the Senate showed strong 64-29 support for the bank when McConnell allowed a vote to include a proposal to revive Ex-Im to be added to a long-term highway funding package. Worryingly, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe has said that some Republicans in his chamber may introduced a new effort to reauthorize and revise the bank. But if they do, having a new bill could further delay the process as both houses would need to work out a compromise between the two pieces of legislation.
Meanwhile, IndiGo’s Rs 3,130 (approx. $464 million) crore-initial public offer (IPO) has been subscribed fully on the second day of the share sale. The portion of shares set aside for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was also fully subscribed.