DUBAI, March 19 (Reuters) - National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the oldest commercial lender in the North African country, has invited banks to pitch for arranger roles on a potential dollar-denominated bond issue, two banking sources said on Thursday.

A deal for the lender is expected to follow Egypt's return to the international debt market in the second quarter after a five-year hiatus, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information isn't public.

NBE is looking for a deal of benchmark size, one of the sources said. For issuers with low credit ratings, such as NBE, benchmark is traditionally understood to mean upwards of $300 million.

NBE wasn't immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Archana Narayanan and David French; Editing by David Goodman)