Saudi Arabia plans to sell up to 49 percent of its oil giant Saudi Aramco within 10 years as the world´s largest crude exporter tries to lower its deficit, local media said Saturday.
The Al-Eqtisadiah daily quoted an unnamed official as saying the sale would raise funds to be spent "at home and abroad" in what is expected to form the world´s largest state investment fund.
The kingdom is looking to diversify its oil-dependent economy and has already announced cutbacks after its 2015 deficit snowballed to $97 billion (93 billion euros).
The IPO for state-owned Aramco could take place in 2018 and an initial sale of a five percent share is expected to form the basis for the fund holding around $2 trillion in assets.
The firm will next year begin publishing quarterly results in a bid to attract potential investors, Aramco chief Amin Nasser has said.
Riyadh earlier this month agreed to slash its oil production beyond cuts agreed among OPEC members, giving crude prices a lift. They remain at around half of their mid-2014 levels.
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