Note 17. Notes payable and other borrowings

Notes payable and other borrowings are summarized below (dollars in millions). The weighted average interest rates and maturity date ranges shown in the following tables are based on borrowings as of September 30, 2018.


	Weighted Average Interest Rate			September 30, 2018		December 31, 2017
Insurance and other:
Issued by Berkshire:
U.S. Dollar denominated borrowings due 2018-2047		3.1	%	$	9,058	$	10,603
Euro denominated borrowings due 2020-2035		1.1	%		7,897		8,164
Short-term subsidiary borrowings		4.1	%		1,733		1,832
Other subsidiary borrowings due 2018-2045		4.0	%		5,583		6,725

				$	24,271	$	27,324

The carrying value of Berkshire’s Euro denominated senior notes reflects the Euro/U.S. Dollar exchange rate as of the balance sheet date. The gains or losses arising from the changes in the Euro/U.S. Dollar exchange rate during the period are recorded in earnings as a component of interest expense. The change in the Euro/U.S. Dollar exchange rate in the first nine months of 2018 resulted in reductions of $273 million in interest expense and to the carrying value of the Euro denominated senior notes compared to increases of $860 million in interest expense and to the carrying value of the notes in the first nine months of 2017.


	Weighted Average Interest Rate		September 30, 2018		December 31, 2017
Railroad, utilities and energy:
Issued by Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company (“BHE”) and its subsidiaries:
BHE senior unsecured debt due 2018-2049		4.5%	$	8,970	$	6,452
Subsidiary and other debt due 2019-2064		4.7%		28,588		28,739
Short-term debt		3.0%		1,784		4,488
Issued by BNSF due 2018-2097		4.7%		23,257		22,499

			$	62,599	$	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, which pertain to leverage ratios, interest coverage ratios and/or debt service coverage ratios, among other covenants. During the first nine months of 2018, BHE and its subsidiaries issued approximately $5.5 billion of long-term debt, including $2.05 billion in the third quarter. The debt issued in 2018 has maturity dates ranging from 2020 to 2049 and a weighted average interest rate of 3.6%. Proceeds from these debt issuances were used to repay debt, to fund capital expenditures and for general corporate purposes.

BNSF’s borrowings are primarily senior unsecured debentures. In the first nine months of 2018, BNSF issued $1.5 billion of senior unsecured debentures due in 2048, including $750 million in the third quarter. These debentures have a weighted average interest rate of 4.1%. In 2018, BNSF repaid $650 million of maturing debentures. As of September 30, 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		September 30, 2018		December 31, 2017
Finance and financial products:
Issued by Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corporation (“BHFC”) due 2019-2048		3.3%	$	10,649	$	12,926
Issued by other subsidiaries due 2018-2028		3.6%		121		159

			$	10,770	$	13,085

Borrowings of BHFC, a wholly owned finance subsidiary of Berkshire, consist of senior unsecured notes used to fund manufactured housing loans originated or acquired and assets held for lease of certain finance subsidiaries. In August 2018, BHFC issued $2.35 billion of 4.2% senior notes due in 2048. Such borrowings are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Berkshire. During the first nine months of 2018, BHFC repaid $4.6 billion of maturing senior notes.

As of September 30, 2018, our subsidiaries had unused lines of credit and commercial paper capacity aggregating approximately $8.4 billion to support short-term borrowing programs and provide additional liquidity. Such unused lines of credit included approximately $6.8 billion related to BHE and its subsidiaries. In addition to BHFC’s borrowings, Berkshire guaranteed approximately $1.7 billion of other subsidiary borrowings at September 30, 2018. 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.