CAIRO: The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) has extended a credit line valued at US $ 150 million to the Bank of Sudan (BoS). 100 million will be allocated to bolstering investments and strengthening foreign trade, stated NBE president Tarek Amer. The remaining US $50 million will be used to fund the NBE's new Khartoum branch which has been licensed by the BoS, said Amer. Following a visit with Sudanese president, Omer Hassan al-Bashir, and other Sudanese officials last month, Amer declared the NBE's willingness to fund joint Egypt-Sudan ventures and improve the performance of the banking sector. According to the NBE's CEO, Egypt has an expressed interest in the Sudan's agricultural sector. It is believed that Egypt could reduce its food expenditures by importing food from its neighbor Sudan. The Sudanese government has struggled to cope with the loss of the oil-rich south. The newly independent Republic of South Sudan has denied the north billions of dollars worth of revenue and hard currency. The newfound economic stress has forced the Sudanese government to seek foreign investment from many of the Arab Gulf states. BM