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FT quotes interview with EXIM chair John Jovanovic

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First tranche of deals will include projects in Egypt,

Pakistan

and Europe

(Adds details, background from paragraph 2 onwards)

Nov 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM)

will invest $100 billion to secure U.S. and allied supply chains

for critical minerals, nuclear energy and liquefied natural gas,

the organisation's chair John Jovanovic told the Financial Times

in an interview published on Sunday.

The first tranche of deals will include projects in Egypt,

Pakistan and Europe, Jovanovic told the newspaper, adding that

the West was over-reliant on supplies of these critical

materials that "are no longer fair".

"We can't do anything else that we're trying to do without

these underlying critical raw material supply chains being

secure, stable and functioning," he was quoted saying.

CONGRESS HAD APPROVED $135 BLN FOR EXIM TO DEPLOY

Jovanovic told the FT that the bank's early deals would

include a credit insurance guarantee for $4 billion of natural

gas being delivered to Egypt by New York-based commodities group

Hartree Partners, and a $1.25 billion loan for the Reko Diq mine

being developed by Barrick Mining ( B ) in Pakistan.

The bank has $100 billion left to deploy of the $135 billion

authorized by Congress, he said.

EXIM did not immediately respond to a request for comment

outside regular business hours.

The investment aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump's

energy-dominance agenda.

Trump had campaigned on a promise to increase U.S. energy

output and has sought to roll back energy and environmental

regulations since taking office in January.