The Arab Trade Finance Programme (ATFP) has granted a US$25mn credit line agreement with the Lebanese bank Audi Bank.

It will be used to finance Lebanese foreign trade, and brings the total number of credit lines provided by ATFP to institutions in Lebanon to over 100 and lending a total of US$970mn.

This credit line follows another facility signed with Audi and the French Development Agency at the end of June. It provided a €25mn financing agreement for Audi to support the activity of Lebanese small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the July 2006 war and its economic consequences.

Bank Audi has 74 branches across Lebanon, and is also present in Switzerland, France, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Qatar, with a representative office in Abu Dhabi.