DUBAI: Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co (SRC), a subsidiary of sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund, said on Saturday it had agreed to buy 750 million riyals ($200 million) worth of mortgages from local banks and mortgage financing companies.

The move comes after SRC recently completed a 750 million riyal sukuk issue with multiple tenors, under a programme that allows it to issue up to 11 billion riyals of local currency denominated Islamic bonds.

SRC, formed in 2017, is trying to boost the kingdom's secondary mortgage market. It aims to refinance 20 percent of Saudi Arabia's mortgage market over the next decade. The agreements, signed on the sidelines of the Financial Sector Conference in Riyadh last week, included deals to buy portfolio of mortgages from Saudi British Bank and Banque Saudi Fransi, it said in a statement.

SRC's chief executive told Reuters last week that the company aims to issue up to 4 billion riyals ($1.07 billion) of long-term sukuk this year, as it prepares to purchase more home loan portfolios from mortgage financing companies and banks.  ($1 = 3.7497 riyals)

(Editing by Ros Russell) ((Saeed.Azhar@thomsonreuters.com; +971 44536787; Reuters Messaging: saeed.azhar.reuters.com@reuters.net))