Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund and state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) reached an agreement under which KPC will pay 8.25 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($27.44 billion) in accrued dividends over 15 years, two sources said, Reuters reported.

KPC has owed for years about 7 billion Kuwaiti dinars in dividends to the General Reserve Fund (GRF), one of Kuwait’s sovereign funds, tasked with covering budget deficits.

The company and GRF have recently agreed a repayment schedule by which KPC will pay 550 million dinars ($1.83 billion) annually to the GRF during the next 15 years, said a government source and a source familiar with the agreement.

The move will inject cash into the oil-rich Gulf state’s coffers, squeezed by the coronavirus last year and a continued stand-off between government and parliament on implementing measures such as a law to allow state borrowing.