Overseas Private Investment Corporation

For Immediate Release

February 22, 2005

For further information, contact:
Lawrence Spinelli (202) 336-8690
Timothy Harwood (202) 336-8744

OPIC Board Approves $275 Million to Support
Citigroup Lending in Mexico and Pakistan

www.ustda.gov

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The board of directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) approved $200 million in OPIC financing to support lending by Citigroup in Mexico and Pakistan.

The board first approved a $200 million guaranty framework agreement by which OPIC will share credit risk with Citigroup subsidiary Banamex, S.A. in downstream project loans in Mexico. Specifically, the facility will focus on middle market lending, corporate lending and the microfinance sector. This is the first OPIC credit risk-sharing program in Mexico.

Next, the board approved $75 million in new OPIC financing to supplement an existing $75 million Pakistan guaranty facility agreement with Citigroup, created in 2002 to increase U.S. investment in Pakistan.

“OPIC’s on-lending framework agreements with Citigroup have generated strong developmental benefits in host countries, by leveraging private capital, increasing bank-market liquidity, and transferring bank skills and assets,” said OPIC President and CEO Dr. Peter Watson. “We expect that these two new lending frameworks will produce similar positive results, to the benefit of ordinary Mexicans and Pakistanis.”

OPIC was established as an agency of the U.S. government in 1971. It helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging markets, complements the private sector in managing risks associated with foreign direct investment, and supports U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC charges market-based fees for its products, it operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to taxpayers.

OPIC’s political risk insurance and financing help U.S. businesses of all sizes invest in more than 150 emerging markets and developing nations worldwide. Over the agency’s 33-year history, OPIC has supported $164 billion worth of investments that have helped developing countries to generate more than 732,000 host-country jobs and $13 billion in host-government revenues. OPIC projects have also generated $69 billion in U.S. exports and created more than 264,000 American jobs.