Article 8 of the Saudi Privatization Law

This article makes the Ministry of Finance the financial guardian of privatization projects, and gives it four tasks and powers:

1. Before the offering: verifying that financial allocations may be available for the project before approval of its offering is issued.
2. During implementation: securing the allocations needed, as the Ministry decides, to cover the financial obligations of any government entity under the contract and subsidiary contracts on their due dates, and making and carrying out suitable arrangements.
3. When the contract changes: approving any additional financial obligations on the state's public treasury if it is wished to amend, suspend, extend, renew or terminate the partnership contract, before the executing entity refers any of this to the competent authority or takes any step.
4. Support: approving and providing the financial and credit support provided for in the contract or subsidiary contract, including concluding any agreements needed.

The importance of this for the investor is that the government entity's obligations to it are backed by arrangements the Ministry makes. The support referred to here includes what is provided for in the contract or subsidiary contract. An investor may benefit from consulting a lawyer who specializes in commercial or banking and finance matters when structuring the project's obligations.