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Gulf countries rake in billions in Ex-Im Bank subsidies

Several Middle East nations are taking full advantage of a US export financing program whose loans and guarantees supporters say create American jobs and critics claim undermine the US economy. Scroll down to see our interactive table.
Committee Chairman Representative Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) (L) presides over a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the Export-Import Bank's reauthorization, on Capitol Hill in Washington June 3, 2015.  REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTR4YP2O

A handful of Gulf countries are among the biggest beneficiaries of the endangered US export subsidy program, an Al-Monitor analysis reveals.

Companies from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates together pulled in about $12 billion in trade financing over the past five years — 8.5% of the $141 billion global total — to help pay for nuclear reactors, industrial power generators and new fleets of Boeing jets. That includes a record-setting $5 billion loan to help Saudi Arabia build one of the world's largest petrochemical complexes.

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