The Sector Understanding on Export Credits for Civil Aircraft dates from 1986, when it was first incorporated as an Annex in the Arrangement. It is updated on a regular basis.  

The prevailing ASU can be found in Annex II of the current Arrangement.

Latest updates

Compared to the previous version of the ASU (January 2022), modifications were made to Articles 1 and 8 of Appendix III (Minimum Interest Rates) to replace the generic language due to the discontinuation of LIBOR with specific text.

The ASU stipulates that ASU Participants shall charge no less than the applicable Minimum Premium Rates (MPR) to account for the credit risk when providing an officially supported export credit. A premium is charged in addition to the interest rate to cover the risk of non-repayment of the export credits.

The ASU MPRs are updated on a quarterly basis and take effect respectively on the 15th of January, April, July, and October of each year.

According to the ASU, transactions involving states included in the Cape Town List may benefit from a 10% discount of the MPRs (see ASU for details on how a state is included in the Cape Town List) 

• Prevailing 2011 ASU MPR (PDF)
• Historical 2011 ASU MPR (Excel)
• Prevailing List of States qualifying for the Cape Town Discount (PDF)

The ASU stipulates that minimum interest rates shall apply to officially supported export credits relating to civil aircraft.

Minimum fixed interest rate:  the ASU Commercial Interest Reference Rates (CIRR)

The CIRR rates for aircraft are updated on a monthly basis and take effect on the 15th of each month.

• Prevailing ASU CIRR rates (PDF)
• Historical ASU CIRR rates (Excel)

Minimum floating interest rate

The methodology to compute the minimum floating rate is available in Appendix III of the ASU.  

The ASU stipulates that a margin benchmark will be added to the floating benchmark rate. This benchmark is updated on a monthly basis and takes effect on the 15th of each month.

• Prevailing Margin Benchmark (PDF)
• Historical Margin Benchmark (Excel)