SBA export lending outstrips 1991 total.

WASHINGTON -- The Small Business Administration said it guaranteed about 500 loans, worth more than $174 million, to U.S. exporters in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.

The loan total is already 36% greater than the total for all of fiscal 1991, and volume is up 42%. SBA Administrator Patricia Saiki said the numbers reflect a surge in U.S. firms' interest in overseas marketing, which will help lessen the trade imbalance.

The agency said export loan volume and growth were especially strong in Region IX -- California, Arizona, Hawaii, and Nevada. Those states accounted for 25% of total loan volume, and their total grew by $18 million, or 72%, from the total in the 1991 fiscal year.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER