Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has raised a USD11bn loan from banks, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, as it seeks to boost its firepower to finance the Kingdom’s economic transformation plans. News of the loan, which was increased from an initial guide size of USD6bn to USD8bn, given by sources close to the deal in July, comes after Saudi Arabia had indefinitely postponed plans to list state oil giant Aramco, according to four industry sources. This is the first commercial loan for the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has been charged with helping to deliver the Vision 2030 reform plan announced by the government in 2016, an ambitious economic programme designed to free the Kingdom from dependence on oil exports. The PIF has also made substantial commitments to technology companies or investments, including a USD45bn agreement to invest in a giant tech fund led by Japan’s Softbank. On top of that, it has tentatively committed USD20bn to an infrastructure investment planned with Blackstone. PIF will pay a margin of 75bps over Libor for the loan.