Saudi Arabia close to securing $10 billion bank loan: Sources

According to sources, lenders include a mix of US, European and Japanese banks and the loan may be signed before end of April

Saudi Arabia is close to securing a $10 billion loan from banks, sources told Reuters on Wednesday, as the world's top oil exporter seeks to fill a record budget deficit caused by low crude prices.

The kingdom had initally been seeking to raise between $6 billion and $8 billion through a loan lasting for five years for its first foreign borrowing in more than a decade. But the Ministry of Finance raised the amount after drawing significant demand.

The sources said the loan should be signed before the end of April.

One of the sources said the lenders included a mix of US, European and Japanese banks.

 

Another said the lead arrangers included JP Morgan, HSBC and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi. Each was contributing around $1.3 billion, with the remainder of the loan coming from other lenders, the source said.

JP Morgan and HSBC declined to comment and nobody was immediately available to comment from Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

Nobody was available to comment from the Saudi central bank or the finance ministry.