Etisalat's Egyptian telecom subsidiary Etisalat Misr has signed a $120 million three-year loan with HSBC and National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the parent firm said on Monday.

The two banks will each provide $60 million, Abu Dhabi-listed Etisalat wrote in an emailed response to questions from Reuters.

"The loans come in the context of our desire to diversify our sources of funding ... to increase our competitiveness," Etisalat Misr chief executive Saeed Al-Hamli said in the statement.

The largest listed company in the UAE and the country's biggest telecom operator by subscribers, Etisalat owns 66 per cent of Etisalat Misr.

The Egyptian unit accounted for about - Dh1.2 billion ($326.71 million) or 9 per cent of Etisalat's third-quarter revenue, Reuters calculations showed.

The Egyptian unit had Dh1.48 billion of debt as of September 30, its financial statements showed. - Reuters