Dubai's Finance Department (DoF) has secured an AED9.2bn ($2.5bn) loan to finance the AED10.6bn Dubai Metro Route 2020 project.

The loan is payable over 17 years, according to the Finance Department.

It consists of a 17-year AED5.2bn loan supported by the French export credit agency, Bpifrance Assurance Export, and the Spanish export credit agency (CESCE), where the 14-year amortisation is expected to commence in 2020, and a 10-year conventional facility of AED4bn amortising over six years commencing in 2022.

The line extends 15 kilometres from the Nakheel Harbour and Tower station of the Dubai Metro Red Line to the site of Expo 2020. The line with have seven stations. The also work includes an upgrade of the existing metro network.

Spain-based Banco Santander, HSBC Middle East, local firm First Abu Dhabi Bank, Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo and UK-based Standard Chartered Bank acted as mandated lead arrangers and facility providers for the financing.

"The encouraging response received for this financing illustrates the strong confidence of international banks in Dubai’s economy,” said Abdulrahman Saleh al-Saleh, DoF director general. “Expert credit agency (ECA) financing has been a good example of this strategy and we have been able to achieve long-term financing at competitive rates while at the same time allowing us to manage our budget proactively and in a fiscally responsible manner."

The design and build contract for Route 2020 was awarded in 2016 to a consortium of France-based Alstom Transport, Spain-based Acciona Infraestructuras and Turkey’s Gulermak.

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