Note 17. Notes payable and other borrowings

Notes payable and other borrowings are summarized below (in millions). The weighted average interest rates and maturity date ranges shown in the following tables are based on borrowings as of March 31, 2018.


	Weighted Average Interest Rate		March 31, 2018		December 31, 2017
Insurance and other:
Issued by Berkshire:
U.S. Dollar denominated borrowings due 2018-2047		3.0%	$	9,804		$10,603
Euro denominated borrowings due 2020-2035		1.1%		8,383		8,164
Short-term subsidiary borrowings		3.7%		1,800		1,832
Other subsidiary borrowings due 2018-2045		4.0%		5,676		6,725

			$	25,663		$27,324

In 2018, the carrying value of Berkshire’s Euro denominated senior notes increased $217 million due to changes in the Euro/U.S. Dollar exchange rates. This increase produced a corresponding charge to pre-tax earnings of $217 million, which was recorded as additional non-cash interest expense. During the first quarter of 2018, $800 million of Berkshire U.S. Dollar denominated notes matured.


	Weighted Average Interest Rate		March 31, 2018		December 31, 2017
Railroad, utilities and energy:
Issued by Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company (“BHE”) and its subsidiaries:
BHE senior unsecured debt due 2018-2048		4.6%	$	8,627	$	6,452
Subsidiary and other debt due 2018-2064		4.8%		28,871		28,739
Short-term debt		2.6%		2,608		4,488
Issued by BNSF due 2018-2097		4.7%		22,561		22,499

			$	62,667	$	62,178

BHE subsidiary debt represents amounts issued pursuant to separate financing agreements. Substantially all of the assets of certain BHE subsidiaries are, or may be, pledged or encumbered to support or otherwise secure debt. These borrowing arrangements generally contain various covenants including, but not limited to, leverage ratios, interest coverage ratios and debt service coverage ratios, among other covenants. In January 2018, BHE issued $2.2 billion of senior notes with maturity dates ranging from 2021 to 2048 with a weighted average interest rate of 3.2%. Proceeds from this debt issuance were used to repay short-term debt and for general corporate purposes.

BNSF’s borrowings are primarily senior unsecured debentures. In the first quarter of 2018, BNSF issued $750 million of 4.05% senior unsecured debentures due in 2048 and $650 million of debentures matured. As of March 31, 2018, BNSF, BHE and their subsidiaries were in compliance with all applicable debt covenants. Berkshire does not guarantee any debt, borrowings or lines of credit of BNSF, BHE or their subsidiaries.


	Weighted Average Interest Rate		March 31, 2018		December 31, 2017
Finance and financial products:
Issued by Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corporation (“BHFC”) due 2018-2043		3.1%	$	10,578	$	12,926
Issued by other subsidiaries due 2019-2028		4.0%		177		159

			$	10,755	$	13,085

Borrowings of BHFC are used to fund manufactured housing loans originated or acquired and assets held for lease of certain finance subsidiaries. The borrowings of BHFC, a wholly owned finance subsidiary of Berkshire, consist of senior unsecured notes, which are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Berkshire. During the first quarter of 2018, $2.35 billion of BHFC senior notes matured.

As of March 31, 2018, our subsidiaries had unused lines of credit and commercial paper capacity aggregating approximately $7.3 billion to support short-term borrowing programs and provide additional liquidity. Such unused lines of credit included about $5.3 billion related to BHE and its subsidiaries. In addition to BHFC’s borrowings, at March 31, 2018, Berkshire guaranteed approximately $1.9 billion of other subsidiary borrowings. Generally, Berkshire’s guarantee of a subsidiary’s debt obligation is an absolute, unconditional and irrevocable guarantee for the full and prompt payment when due of all payment obligations.