Low income countries that generally do not have access to private sources of capital are not major markets for official export credits. Nonetheless, official export credits that are provided to public buyers represent official flows that can contribute to a country's external debt burden. Accordingly, Members of the Working Party on Export Credits and Credit Guarantees (ECG) have adopted a set of Principles and Guidelines to Promote Sustainable Lending Practices in the Provision of Official Export Credits to Low Income Countries.

The agreement is meant to ensure that the provision of official export credits to public or publicly-guaranteed buyers in IDA-Only countries (i.e. the poorest countries that are only eligible for interest free loans and grants from the International Development Association of the World Bank) should reflect sustainable lending practices,  i.e. lending that supports the buyer country’s economic and social progress without endangering its financial future and long-term development prospects.

The Principles and Guidelines build upon previous ECG agreements (the 2001 Statement of Principles and the revised 2007 Statement of Principles) that recognised the importance of the HIPC Initiative and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries  (DSF) and discouraged the provision of official export credits for Unproductive Expenditures.

Continuing the practice established in relation to the past agreements on Unproductive Expenditure, the Statement of Principles require Members to report details of official export credit transactions to IDA-Only Countries and HIPCs and to review them on an annual basis.

Summary tables for the reporting period (2001-2007) are now available.