Eximbank to sell US$3 bln in overseas bonds

SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's state-owned trade bank plans to further
sell mid- and long-term foreign currency bonds worth around US$3 billion this
year after carefully weighing the timing of the issuance, its chief said Tuesday.
In mid-January, the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) sold $2 billion worth
of bonds to foreign investors, becoming the first local financial firm to issue
global bonds in the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
"Overseas borrowing conditions seemed to have improved somewhat compared with
January," Kim Dong-soo, chairman of Eximbank, told a press conference.
"The bank plans to sell foreign currency debt worth $3 billion for the rest of
this year, but it has not yet decided on the timing," Kim said, adding that the
bank will first review the state of global financial markets.
The state-run bank is aiming to raise $8 billion in overseas markets this year,
out of which it has already raised $3.92 billion.
His remarks come as local commercial banks have faced difficulty in raising funds
overseas as debt sales have frozen amid the global financial turmoil and possible
default risks in some Eastern European countries.
Meanwhile, the bank plans to provide 13 trillion won ($8.56 billion) in loans and
credit guarantees to smaller local exporters this year, doubling last year's
figure, in a bid to help ease tight export financing.
Exporters are struggling to cope with a credit crunch and the slowing economy as
overseas shipments, the mainstay of the nation's economic growth, drop sharply.
Eximbank's earlier target for this year was set at 8.5 trillion won to smaller
firms. In 2008, the bank gave support worth 6.5 trillion won to them.
"To counter the sharply slowing economy, it is important to expand support to
small exporting companies," Kim added.
The South Korean economy, Asia's fourth-largest economy, is rapidly heading into
a recession due to tumbling exports and weak domestic demand.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)