Saudi Aramco is planning to finalise deals to invest $7bn in Malaysia before 31 March, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak has said.

Razak said the move would boost foreign direct investment in Malaysia, without specifying in what and when Aramco would invest.

“Earlier this morning, I received a text from [Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department] Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who said Saudi Aramco has agreed to invest $7bn in Malaysia before 31 March,” Razak has been quoted by local media reports as saying at an event in Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian PM said Rahman has travelled to Riyadh to close the proposed deal with Saudi Aramco.

Saudi Aramco and Malaysia’s state-owned oil company Petronas are already said to be close to raising an $8bn loan to partly finance the construction of a planned refinery and a petrochemicals complex in Malaysia.