The bank originally sought $150m to refinance a $130m loan that matures in December and about $27m of existing bonds.

The deal was increased after its banking syndicate offered to finance a larger deal. A total of 12 banks were involved in the deal including Commerzbank, Arab Bank, Bayerische Landesbank, Standard Chartered and Wachovia.

Margins on the new deal are expected to be higher than the 30 basis points over the London interbank offered rate (Libor) the bank is paying on its current facility.

National Bank of Fujairah recently said that its profits for the first quarter of 2008 fell by 31 per cent on declining investment income.