RIYADH: Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) approved 11 industrial loans worth SR 1.53 billion for the establishment of seven new projects and the expansion of another four existing ones.
Total investments in the 11 industrial projects are worth SR 4.06 billion, SIDF Director General Ali bin Abdullah Al-Ayed announced.
The chemical industry sector captured the biggest portion of the approved loans totaling SR 956 million, followed by the consumer items sector seizing SR 542 million worth of loans and SR 38 million allocated to the industrial sector’s support services, he said.
During the first nine months of the current year, the SIDF approved 99 loans worth SR 7.7 billion, an increase of 19 percent compared to the number of loans approved during the same period last year.
Meanwhile, total amounts repaid by the borrowers during the same period stood at SR 3.1 billion, up 27 percent to what was paid during the same period last year, according to Al-Ayed.
The first nine months of the current year witnessed a number of achievements for the SIDF, most notably the issuance of a royal decree for the increase of the SIDF capital from SR 20 billion to SR 40 billion.
During the same period, the SIDF’s board agreed to raise the maximum ceiling for loans in the least developed areas for new or existing projects to SR 1.2 billion, whereas the loan ceiling in major cities was raised to SR 900 million for projects owned by public shareholding, closed joint-stock and limited liability companies.
The board also raised the maximum ceiling for loans in the least developed areas for new or existing projects to SR 400 million.
