Saudi Arabia wealth fund raises $17bn loan for refinancing

Saudi Arabia wealth fund raises $17bn loan for refinancing

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund raised a $17bn loan to repay an existing facility that’s due to mature next year. The $620bn Public Investment Fund raised the seven-year loan from a syndicate of 25 banks in Europe, the US, the Middle East and Asia, it said in a statement. The borrowing, which was twice oversubscribed, will be used to repay an existing $11bn loan that was raised in 2018. The PIF, as the fund is known, has been borrowing to finance overseas acquisitions and invest in domestic projects even as soaring crude prices are set to give the kingdom its first budget surplus in almost a decade. In October, it raised $3bn from its debut green bond sale that also marked its first foray into ethical finance. The government has said it will keep any windfall from oil in a current account and decide to allocate it between state funds such as the PIF and reserves held by the central bank at the end of the year. “PIF will continue to explore a variety of debt funding sources as it delivers on its strategic objectives,” said Fahad Al Saif, head of global capital finance at PIF. “It is a significant