Rs.6bn assigned for PM’s low housing scheme: Dar

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar while presenting the federal budget 2014-15 on Tuesday unveiled government’s initiatives to facilitate provision of housing in the country.

The Minister informed that government designed a program to provide housing credit to low cost housing units to enable the poor to have their own houses.

According to scheme loans up to Rs. 1 million will be provided by Banks and financial institutions, the government will guarantee 40 per cent of the portfolio amount.

“The scheme will cover all areas of Pakistan and 25,000 loans worth Rs.20 billion will be provided through this innovative method of supporting low and middle-income families”, he added.

Dar further said that a Mortgage Refinance Company is being established with a broad shareholding of the Government of Pakistan, Commercial Bank, Development

Finance Institutions, Multilaterals and others for this purpose, to generate long-term liquidity for housing finance. Total paid up capital of the company would be Rs.6 billion. The company will provide refinance facilities through purchases of loans from the financial institutions engaged in loan origination and packaging them for sale to long-term investors.Government of Pakistan will invest Rs.1.2 billion in the equity of the company.

The Finance Minister informed that government has decided rehabilitate House Building Finance Company Limited (HBFC) with the following actions, Immediate formation of Board of Directors, Improvements in efficiency and capacity, Simplification of procedures, Major drive to recover non-performingloans, Provision of new resources.
Ishaq Dar said besides the above mentioned measures a provision of Rs.6 billion has been kept in the budget for PM’s low housing scheme.