Banks

Page updated 17 Nov 2009

Given that the New Zealand Export Credit Office (NZECO) does not provide any direct finance to exporters, we aim to work closely with an exporter’s bank or financier to help structure a competitive export credit arrangement.

The NZECO’s Buyer Credit and Financing Guarantee products are credit products that are commonly and successfully used by other export credit agencies and financial institutions.

Associated financial costs can be added to the loan amount and covered under an NZECO guarantee. The NZECO will rank pari passu with a bank or financier in any export credit facility, but may rank in priority to the exporter.

Other benefits of these NZECO products include enabling a bank to off-lay country risk when its credit lines are full. The lower weighting for capital adequacy purposes (normally 10%) also allows for greater capital usage. By working closely with banks at an early stage to structure medium to long term finance packages, your client may be in a better position to win international contracts.

The NZECO also provides Short-Term Working Capital and General Contract Bond Guarantee products to participating banks. These products allow banks to extend working capital and bonds to exporters when they are at their security based lending limits.

The NZECO’s role is to complement rather than compete with the products offered by commercial providers. Accordingly, we wish to work with the commercial finance sector to make it easier for New Zealand businesses or their buyers to obtain finance.

Documents required for processing an application are available from Application Forms. Contact the NZECO office if you have queries.