The Arrangement places limitations on the financing terms and conditions of officially supported export credits. These include restrictions on the applicable Maximum Repayment Term, the Minimum Interest Rates and the Minimum Premium Rates to be charged for officially supported export credits. Specific terms for the Financing Terms and Conditions for the Aircraft Sector Understanding are also available.
Under the disciplines of the Arrangement, Maximum Repayment Terms for officially supported export credits are established according to the sector of the project and by the destination country of the project: Category I countries are High Income OECD countries; all other countries are Category II).
The Arrangement stipulates that the Participants shall apply minimum interest rates when providing official financing support for fixed-rate loans: these rates are known as Commercial Interest Reference Rates (CIRRs). There are no minimum interest rate requirements for floating rates. On 15 July 2023, new CIRR disciplines will come into force, which will replace the existing rules. These new disciplines will apply to all sectors, except to the SSU and ASU.
The Arrangement stipulates that no less than the applicable Minimum Premium Rate (MPR) shall be charged to account for the credit risk when providing an officially supported export credit. Premium is charged in addition to CIRRs, as it is meant to cover the risk of non-repayment of the export credits. The Premium rates depend on the level of risk, which includes the country risk (see the page on country risk classification), time at risk and the political and commercial risk covered.
The minimum premium rules to be applied have evolved significantly over time. The first agreement on premium for export credits (the Knaepen Package) was concluded in June 1997 and incorporated in the Arrangement in December 1997. In 2004, these rules were modified and adapted to reflect better the different export credit products and systems (see TD/PG(2004)10/FINAL). In 2011, the Participants agreed to expand and revise the premium rules (see TAD/PG(2010)10).
The prevailing applicable MPR for countries rated from category 1 to 7 (see country risk classification) are derived using a complex formula provided in Annex VIII of the Arrangement.
Converting Up-front MPR into margins (Premium Discount Rates “PDR”): The PDRs are to be used to convert MPRs for country category 1-7 which are computed as up-front premium into spreads (these PDRs may also be used to ensure that a spread is at least as high as the required MPR).
Specific rules apply for credit risk premium to be charged in countries that are not classified and where private market financing is generally available (i.e. market benchmark countries). These rules were agreed to in November 2016 (they were incorporated in the Arrangement and implemented in February 2017).
The market benchmark rules also apply to the Regional or Multilateral institutions which Participants have agreed are generally exempt from monetary control and transfer regulations of the country in which they are located (according to Article 22 and Annex XI of the Arrangement).
On an exceptional basis, Participants may agree, via a common line, to apply alternative terms and conditions to those provided in the Arrangement for a specific transaction or for multiple transactions with common characteristics (see the related articles in the Arrangement for further information).
Access all OECD publications on export credits on the OECD iLibrary.
All of our trade research and analysis is available to read online for free on the OECD iLibrary
Sign-up to our newsletter to receive periodic e-mail updates on new publications, videos and analysis.
If you have questions about Export credits at OECD, please contact the Export Credits Secretariat via e-mail.