About NZECO

The New Zealand Export Credit Office (NZECO) is the officially supported export credit agency for New Zealand.  We provide export credit guarantees to protect New Zealand exporters against uncontrollable events, and to enable them to offer extended finance terms to their international buyers.

The NZECO aims to develop New Zealand’s export trade and to build the capacity of New Zealand exporters to offer longer-term finance in response to international business opportunities.  The NZECO is currently located within the Treasury.

An export credit guarantee is a form of insurance that covers an exporter if the importer or their bank defaults on payment.  The NZECO operates in the same way as an insurance company, and its relations with companies and banks are conducted on a commercial basis. 

Our role is to complement rather than compete against the credit insurance products offered by commercial providers.  Accordingly, we seek to provide insurance assistance where the private market lacks the capacity or willingness.  By virtue of being part of the state, the NZECO has the ability to provide medium to long term credit cover on higher-risk markets.

The NZECO does not provide the actual loan nor does it directly finance the credit.  As is the case with all export credit arrangements, the exporter or their bank will normally be expected to share a degree of the credit risk.

The benefits of an exporter working with the NZECO include:

• guaranteed payment to the exporter by the NZECO, in the event their buyer defaults due to commercial or political events;
• if payment is guaranteed, the banks may be more willing to provide finance to the exporter;
• the opportunity to extend competitive credit terms to buyers; and
• the ability to export to new markets with more confidence.