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Export Finance: The Small Business Administration's Role in Meeting Small Business Needs

T-GGD-95-235 Published: Sep 07, 1995. Publicly Released: Sep 07, 1995.
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Highlights

GAO discussed information on the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Export Working Capital Program (EWCP), focusing on SBA role in meeting the export finance needs of small-and medium-sized businesses. GAO noted that SBA has: (1) worked with the U.S. Export-Import Bank to streamline and standardize its working capital programs; (2) supported U.S. export assistance centers by assigning 11 staff to the four pilot centers that are to provide a single point of contact for potential U.S. exporters; and (3) established cofinancing agreements with a few states, which has given the states the added ability to grant more loan guarantees. In addition, GAO noted that: (1) SBA will likely guarantee about 164 working capital loans, totalling almost $55 million, for fiscal year 1995; and (2) there are four possible options to help reduce the potential impact of reduced EWCP funding, which include lowering the guarantee coverage, increasing guarantee fees, using funding as an incentive to create new state export financing opportunities, and consolidating EWCP into the Working Capital Guarantee Program.

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CapitalExport regulationExportingFederal fundsInternational economic relationsInternational tradeOff-budget federal entitiesSmall business assistanceSmall business loansSmall business