Riyadh – Mubasher: The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) is considering obtaining $5 billion loans from local and international banks for the first time as part of its plans to invest in the Kingdom and abroad, informed sources told Bloomberg on Sunday.

The kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, which seeks to become a $2 trillion investment giant, has not reached any final decisions on the date and volume of issue and it may turn to government financing.

"The fund is willing to borrow as it seeks to diversify the kingdom’s oil-dependent economy and boost returns from investments," Managing Director Yasir Al-Rumayyan said in a Bloomberg Television interview in October.

The Saudi body aims to raise its assets to SAR 1.5 trillion ($400 billion) by 2020 as part of a programme that will provide 20,000 direct local jobs and 256,000 construction jobs.