Speaking to the Saudi Press Agency after Monday’s Cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Khoja said the Finance Ministry would pay the amount within two years.

“The Cabinet decided to give a soft loan of SR15 billion to the SEC for 25 years and the amount will be given in two years time on the basis of an agreement between the ministry and the company,” he said.

The Cabinet meeting took the decision in response to a request by Minister of Water and Electricity Abdullah Al-Hussayen for emergency measures to help the SEC.

The SEC posted a net loss of SR782 million ($209 million) in the three months to the end of March, compared to SR771 million a year earlier after the company in the power-hungry Kingdom bought more power from independent producers and costs of new projects rose.

The SEC makes losses during the coolest six months of the year due to low power demand, but makes a profit during the hotter second and third quarters, closing every year in the black. The company is also implementing projects to add 5,105 megawatts of new power capacity by 2012 as demand for power in Saudi Arabia grows at a rate of 8 percent every year.

Abdullah Al-Shahri, governor of the Electricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority, recently disclosed that the Kingdom’s electricity sector was facing an annual deficit of SR3.8 billion. He proposed an increase electricity tariff to the industrial sector to cut down this deficit to SR900 million.

Ali Al-Barrak, CEO of SEC, said the government loan would help the company carry out its new expansion project for Rabigh power plant, adding that the project would help meet growing electricity demand in Makkah and Madinah provinces. He said the Rabigh plant generates 32 percent of the total supply. The new project will be completed in 2014 to increase the plant's capacity to more than 5,000 megawatt.

Information Minister Khoja said the Cabinet meeting took a number of other important decisions. It denounced the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians and the terrorist explosions in Iraq.

It also noted the signing of a contract to implement one of five housing projects for displaced people in Jazan.

Economy and Planning Minister Khaled Al-Gosaibi briefed the Cabinet on preparations for the Kingdom’s general census from April 27 to 28; the council also urged all Saudis and expatriates to extend their full support and cooperation to census officials. It further stressed that the census is important in that it allows the state to make appropriate plans.

Spelling out other decisions taken by the Cabinet, Khoja said it approved the establishment of a general authority for endowments and merged the agency for endowments at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs with the new authority. The new body will set out endowment policies, invest endowment properties economically, and register endowment properties using the best methods and ensure their protection and maintenance.

The Cabinet also endorsed an air transport agreement with Uzbekistan and adopted measures to ensure donations given by Saudi Arabia to international organizations are used diligently without affecting the Kingdom’s reputation and interests.