The government is allowing major builder Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) to resume bidding for state projects, Al-Watan newspaper reported on Thursday, in a decision that may ease the financial pressure on the troubled firm and banks which lend to it.

The company has been struggling since September last year, when it was suspended from obtaining new government contracts after a crane toppled into Makkah's Grand Mosque during a dust storm, killing 107 people.

It has now received a royal decree allowing it to bid for state contracts again, and a travel ban imposed on its top managers after the disaster has been lifted, Al-Watan quoted an unnamed source as saying.

The newspaper also quoted a spokesman for the civil aviation authority as saying that in response, the company would resume work at the multi-billion-dollar King Abdulaziz International Airport project in Jeddah.

Company and government officials could not be contacted for comment early on Thursday. - Reuters