Canada export agency pays out $358 million in claims due to Arab spring unrest

OTTAWA – Canada’s export development agency says it had to pay out $358 million in insurance claims for political risk last year mostly due to unrest and civil war in the Middle East and North Africa.

The figure is almost seven times more than what the Crown agency typically provides to Canadian firms for political risk insurance in previous years, and may be a record for the agency.

The expense appears in Export Development Canada’s report on its 2012 financial results.

The EDC would not name the countries involved or the Canadian companies that sustained losses.

Overall, it says it earned more than $1.2 billion last year from its loans, insurance premiums, investments and loan guarantees, up from $1.1 billion in 2011.