UK launches £5bn export-finance pilot to push British goods in fast-growing markets

The UK government has launched a £5 billion export-finance pilot to help British businesses win more deals in fast-growing economies such as Brazil, Morocco and Mexico, Chancellor John Healey MP announced on Monday (GOV.UK).

UKEF’s Flexible Finance pilot will give selected buyers in economies where British exports could be greater access to loans on more flexible terms to incentivise buying British. UKEF guarantees — up to £5 billion in total under the pilot — will cover up to 80% of a commercial loan for select overseas buyers, with UKEF partnering with the borrower to grow their imports of British goods and services.

Unlike UKEF’s existing guarantees, borrowers get greater flexibility in how they use the funding, while UKEF will support UK suppliers through matchmaking and procurement help. The £5 billion is programme capacity rather than already-committed lending, with the first borrowers and banks still undisclosed (BCR Publishing).

“We’re backing British businesses to strike more deals overseas. Especially in countries which are growing fast but we don’t have a big British footprint,” Healey said, linking the pilot to his Liverpool speech argument “that we are backing British industry and British innovation.”

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the product lays “the foundation for good growth and jobs in the UK, as British companies bring home the benefits of a thriving export market.”

The launch is the latest UKEF addition responding to the Industrial Strategy, following June’s new defence export facility, which increased UKEF’s defence-export capacity by £50 billion.