§ Mr. Maclennanasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will seek to extend the facilities of the Export Credits Guarantee Department to permit the provision of buyer credit for contracts below £2 million.
§ Mr. CroslandI have given general authorisation to the E.C.G.D. to facilitate buyer credit transactions for contracts for United Kingdom goods and services of a value not less than £1 million. It is intended gradually to extend this facility further, with the co-operation of the clearing banks. There will be no change as regards length of credit. The permissible length of credit and repayment terms generally will be the same under a buyer credit as they would be under a supplier credit for the same transaction, but technically the buyer credit may sometimes be the more convenient method for the exporter or for the buyer and it is intended therefore to allow wider use of the buyer credit technique in step with the Department's ability to cope with the demand.