London- Minutes after signing the greatest joint international funding agreement in the history of Saudi Electricity Company (SEC), Ziyad Mohammed Al-Shiha, president and chief executive officer of SEC, described the deal as an international expression of trust in the company’s performance and the kingdom’s economy in general.

Saudi Arabia’s national electricity company on Wednesday announced it had secured USD1.75 billion (SAR6.56 billion) in international loans to finance future plans. The banks that took part in the funding are: HSBC, Standard Chartered, NATIXIS, Citibank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank.

In statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, Shiha said that SEC earning of such a huge loan in a record period of time – less than two months – is an international voting in favor of the company’s achievements, the kingdom’s economy, Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program 2020.

He added that the loan aims at funding the basic programs and that “we invest every year between 30 to 40 billion riyals within capital expenses to fulfill the kingdom’s demand. This loan will help us fund expenses related to electricity generating, transporting and distributing.”

Commenting on dividing SEC into four firms, Shiha pointed that the plan is being studied by competent governmental authorities.

SEC is considered the biggest electric service facility in the MENA and the one of the greatest services’ facilities in the world – it also has a large assets base that reached 441.2 billion riyals (usd117.6 billion) at the end of June.