ABSTRACT
The Bank serves a multiplicity of purposes and is subject to a variety of influences. Global economic conditions affect the Bank's operations policies, as do the economic policy objectives of the administration and overriding foreign policy interests. The ability of Eximbank programs to increase exports is the most fundamental rationale for the Bank; from this are derived the more specific rationales of assuring access to finance and providing credit support where they are factors in competitiveness. In the macroeconomic context of the balance of payments, an export financed by an Eximbank loan has a delayed effect. The original rationale for Eximbank's establishment in 1934, that of providing finance for exports where none was forthcoming from private sources, survives as a more specific purpose of the Bank. Eximbank's board of directors is responsible for approving direct credit authorizations and for setting policy at the Bank. The major outside influences on the Bank are federal agencies concerned with international finance and trade.
