Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has raised US$3bn-equivalent in credit facilities guaranteed by Italy’s export credit agency SACE, bringing together 25 international banks in a financing arrangement designed to strengthen procurement links between Saudi Arabia and Italian suppliers.

The transaction consists of a US$1.78bn dollar-denominated facility and a €1.035bn green tranche. Proceeds from the euro facility will be allocated to eligible projects under PIF’s Green Finance Framework.

The financing builds on a memorandum of understanding signed by PIF and SACE in March 2025, which sought to create commercial opportunities for Italian companies within PIF’s investment portfolio and wider Saudi development programme.

For Italian exporters, the arrangement offers a potential route into the procurement requirements of one of the world’s largest sovereign investors. For PIF, it adds another source of international bank funding supported by an export credit agency guarantee.

The structure is particularly relevant to export finance because the SACE guarantee allows participating banks to support a major international borrower while benefiting from credit-risk protection. Such guarantees can help facilitate transactions where procurement and financing objectives span several jurisdictions.

Unlike a conventional supplier-finance programme, however, the facilities have not been presented as a mechanism for accelerating payment against approved supplier invoices. Their stated purpose is to support broader financing and commercial cooperation, including opportunities for Italian suppliers to provide goods and services to PIF and its portfolio companies.

SACE said the transaction forms part of its Push Strategy, which uses financial support and commercial engagement to encourage international buyers to increase sourcing from Italian businesses.

PIF has also highlighted the scale of its existing European investment activity, reporting €98bn deployed in Europe since 2017.

Neither the individual bank commitments nor the facilities’ pricing, maturity and guarantee coverage percentage were disclosed. The announcement also does not identify specific Italian procurement contracts arising from the financing.

The agreement nevertheless demonstrates how export credit agencies are being used beyond individual equipment or infrastructure purchases, supporting large financing packages intended to create longer-term export opportunities across a borrower’s investment ecosystem.