Welcome to Federal Credit Fridays! The U.S. government is one of the largest lenders and credit guarantors on earth. Its portfolio is estimated at over $3.6 trillion, as measured by loan assets and the face value of loan guarantees. The government uses credit for a wide variety of policy missions, including housing, higher education, small businesses, rural and urban economic development, infrastructure, and export promotion, among others. This podcast will familiarize you with the vast world of federal credit, and we hope that you’ll learn about similarities and differences between these programs as well as the importance of their work to achieving policy missions within the framework of public-private collaboration.
In this episode of Federal Credit Fridays, host Anthony Curcio dives deep into the "superpowers" of federal credit programs—what makes them so powerful, what makes them so complicated, and what borrowers and appropriators alike need to understand about how they really work.
To unpack it all, Anthony sits down with Brian Oakley, Director within Summit’s Federal Transaction Advisory Practice. With over 30 years of experience advising on more than $50 billion in closed project financings, Brian brings a wealth of insight into how federal credit can unlock transformative investment in sectors like energy, infrastructure, and industrial development.
Together, they explore:
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How certain federal loan programs appear to cost the government “nothing”—and why that’s both true and misleading
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The concept of a “0-subsidy” program and how risk-based spreads play into federal budget accounting
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The growing popularity of 0-subsidy structures and what that means for program design in a time of budget constraints
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The potential pitfalls of restructuring and why these superpowered programs require careful consideration
If you’re working on federal credit policy, structuring public-private partnerships, or just love a good conversation about budget nuance and risk allocation—this one’s for you. Tune in to hear Brian break down the layers, the logic, and the "be carefuls" that come with this powerful financial tool.
🎧 Listen now
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