CBI chief Digby Jones has accused the government of undermining support for British exporters and exacerbating the number of manufacturing jobs going overseas.
He made the comments as he gave evidence to the House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee Inquiry into the future of the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD), which underwrites exports to and investment in, often uncertain, overseas markets.
Digby Jones said businesses are increasingly turning their backs on ECGD as the government has seriously lost sight of what the department is really for.
CBI director-general, Digby Jones, said: "Export credits are vital to securing many international contracts, particularly in countries where there is long term risk which the commercial markets cannot cover. It is for precisely those situations that export credit agencies exist and why all competitor countries support their exporters in this way.
