Saudi Arabia’s Islamic lender Alinma Bank will grant a SAR266.6m ($1bn) credit facility to Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), helping to plug a financing gap at one of the world’s largest petrochemicals companies.

“The facility will fund some of Sabic’s petrochemical projects as part of its strategic plans to enhance financing performance, boost competitiveness and help it achieve its expansion and growth strategy,” Alinma said in a statement.

The bank did not disclose the terms of the facilities, saying only they complied with Islamic law.

In May, Sabic Capital, the financial arm of the company, delayed a benchmark dollar bond issue due to the volatility on global credit markets over sovereign debt concerns in Europe.

International ratings agency Moody’s had assigned the planned bond an A+ rating and said it understood it would be used to refinance or repay debt at Sabic Innovative Plastics Holding, the former GE Plastics division, which it acquired for $11.6bn in May 2007.

Sabic has said that it needs to repay $1.47bn in long-term loans in 2010 and $3bn in 2011.