KUWAIT- Kuwait's Mabanee is set to sign more than 5 billion Saudi riyals ($1.33 billion) worth of financing from banks to develop The Avenues Riyadh shopping mall, Chief Executive Waleed Alsharian said on Monday.

The agreement is with a consortium of Saudi, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwaiti banks, he told reporters after a shareholder meeting.

Construction of the first phase of The Avenues Riyadh will start in the last quarter of this year, he said.

The project will cost $3.5 billion, and 60 percent of the financing will come from bank debt.

($1 = 3.7500 riyals)

(Reporting by Ahmed Hagagy, writing by Hadeel Al Sayegh) ((Hadeel.AlSayegh@thomsonreuters.com; +971566883310;))