The deal is expected to be denominated in dollars and come to the market in the next few weeks. Proceeds from the transaction will be used to refinance a $300m, 12 month Islamic finance loan arranged in December 2007 (MEED 27:12:07).

The deal is part of the bank's strategy to diversify its funding sources and better match its assets and liabilities.

QIB recently reported a profit for the first half of the year of QR854m ($235m), an increase of 70 per cent compared with the same period in 2007. Assets grew by 50 per cent to QR29.6bn, while deposit growth was 49 per cent.

The bank also recently agreed to help fund the $250m Islamic finance tranche for the development of the Ras Laffan C plant in Qatar (MEED 23:7:08).