Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 19, 1999
Contact: Marianna Ohe (202) 565-3200

EX-IM BANK APPROVES FINANCING FOR
GENERAL ELECTRIC 50-LOCOMOTIVE EXPORT TO BRAZIL
Important new market for GE with potential for follow-on business

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) approved an $88 million long-term loan to finance the export of 50 locomotives by GE Transportation Systems, Erie, PA, to a new Brazilian rail transportation company, Ferrovias Norte S.A. (Ferronorte) in Sao Paulo. Banco Santander Noroeste S.A., Brasil, acting through its Cayman Islands branch, will buy the locomotives from GE Transportation and lease them to Ferronorte; at the end of an eight-year lease term, ownership of the locomotives will pass to Ferronorte.

GE Transportation is the first provider of locomotives for the project. Ferronorte plans to use the locomotives on a 1,300-kilometer rail line it is building to link Brazil's central west agricultural region with the port of Santos near Sao Paulo, a century-long dream of the Brazilian government and a high-priority infrastructure project of the Cardoso Administration. The rail line will carry agricultural products such as soybeans, wheat and corn from the agricultural state of Mato Grosso to Santos for export.

"We have enjoyed record locomotive production for several years," said Stephen F. Angel, general manager-Americas Locomotive Marketing and Sales at GE Transportation, "however this has been largely the result of domestic purchases. Orders from Brazil and other emerging markets are critical to maintain the stability of our production and our employment over the longer term. The entree into this marketplace as the first provider of locomotives for this new railroad is very exciting and important to us in terms of follow-on business."

The transaction also benefits numerous GE Transporation suppliers of engine castings, electronic components, fuel tanks, air brakes, forgings, steel plate, radiators, air conditioning and other equipment. GE Transporation won the contract in the face of stiff competition from foreign firms backed by their governments.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. government agency that assists in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to industrializing and developing markets all over the world by providing loans, loan guarantees, and export credit insurance. In fiscal year 1998, Ex-Im Bank supported $13 billion of U.S. exports.

Visit Ex-Im Bank's Web Site at www.exim.gov