Export-Import Bank Could Fold in 60 Days: Chairman
Special to CNBC.com
The U.S. Export-Import Bank is within 60 days of folding unless Congress extends its life, Chairman Fred Hochberg told CNBC Monday.
The self-financing official export credit agency of the federal government will expire on June 1 without reauthorization.
Hochberg is seeking another four years for the bank and an increase in its lending cap by $40 billion to $140 billion "so we can make the loans and make the guarantees to make sure we create more jobs in America from sales from exports."
While many in Congress and in business support the bank, others say U.S. companies are hurt by giving foreign firms these guarantees.
The reauthorization bill was introduced in the Senate in mid-March as an amendment to the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, and that's where it has stalled as a result of procedural fighting between the Democrat-led Senate and the Republican-led House of Representatives.
"We are confident we’ll have a deal," Hochberg said. "This is a bill that creates jobs, operates at no cost to the taxpayer, generates a 'profit' for the Treasury so it reduces the deficit, and we have support on both sides of the aisle. We're going to find a deal. We just haven’t found one yet."
