Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has secured a $17bn loan to help finance its push into the megaprojects that it hopes will diversify the kingdom’s economy from oil revenues. The seven-year senior unsecured loan was provided by a syndicate of 25 financial institutions in Europe, the US, the Middle East and Asia, the Public Investment Fund said on Wednesday. An earlier $11bn loan for five years that was arranged in 2018 will be paid off early, it said.

PIF is not believed to need the capital imminently. But analysts have questioned how the fund will finance all its schemes, which include commitments to invest $40bn annually in the domestic economy until the end of 2025 and the development of NEOM, a futuristic carbon-free city built in a 170km line through the Saudi desert that is expected to cost $500bn.

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