News from the Export-Import Bank of the United States

Ex-Im Bank Chairman James A. Harmon and Dorodjatun Kuntjoro Jakti, Indonesian Ambassador to the United States, signed the agreement in a ceremony at the ambassador`s residence in Washington, D.C.

"Ex-Im Bank is pleased to help finance a transaction which will support US jobs and Indonesian infrastructure development," Harmon said. "We continue to look for ways to finance creditworthy transactions in Indonesia as the Indonesian government`s economic reforms continue to move forward."

The six 737-300 and five 737-500 narrow body aircraft fitted with CFM-made engines will help Garuda provide a critically important link between Indonesia`s widely scattered islands at a time when many of Indonesia`s domestic airlines have ceased or curtailed operations. Garuda provides air transportation to 20 international and 21 domestic destinations. The airline plays a major role in Indonesia`s tourism industry and provides air service to many remote locations in Indonesia.

The Ex-Im Bank-supplied financing, composed of both an Ex-Im Bank-provided loan and an Ex-Im Bank-guaranteed loan from Westdeutsche Landesbank, is structured as an asset-based finance lease with the aircraft serving as collateral. Indonesia`s Ministry of Finance (MOF) will serve as the lessee of the planes, rather than the usual arrangement in which the airline is the lessee. The MOF will sublease the aircraft to Garuda.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent US government agency that assists in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to industrializing and developing markets all over the world by providing loans, loan guarantees, and export credit insurance. In fiscal year 1999, Ex-Im Bank supported nearly $17 billion of U.S. exports worldwide.

Original URL: http://www.exim.gov/pressrelease.cfmB0DACA99-1032-5B0F-B613D88C22570633/

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