Abu Dhabi's Arab Trade Financing Programme has extended a $20 million line of credit to Egypt's Export Development Bank (EDB) to finance Egyptian export activities, Egypt's trade ministry said on Thursday.

The deal comes as the Egyptian government seeks to support exports to mitigate the effects of the global economic crisis as the economies of Egypt's major trading partners suffer.

Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid said last month that Egypt's export growth will probably slow this year. He hoped exports would rise by 20 to 25 per cent, compared with 30 per cent last year, but said the outlook was uncertain.

The trade ministry said the fresh line of credit funds would support pre-export financing, post shipment financing and imports as well as exports credit.

Rachid said in a statement that providing support to exporters was a priority and that the credit line was 'one of the tools through which this support will be made available'.

The Egyptian government has already announced a 15 billion Egyptian pound ($2.7 billion) stimulus package for the current fiscal year, with most spending going to infrastructure projects.

Some 3.15 billion pounds would go to helping exports. The Egyptian economy is expected to expand by a median of 5.25 percent in the current fiscal year which started in July, compared with 7.2 percent a year earlier.-Reuters