Karachi: In response to the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) policy to encourage financing for housing and construction, the year 2021 saw a record disbursement of loans in this regard. SBP's new rules and regulations have helped the disbursement of 163 billion in 2021 showing an increase of 85 percent in housing loans. In the near past, SBP Also Increased The Banks Exposure Limits to Enhance House Loans. A statement issued by the central bank on Thursday shows that the banks disbursed an amount of Rs 355 billion for House Financing Loans in 2021 as compared to Rs 192 billion last year.
Financing under “Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar (MPMG)”, the mark-up subsidy scheme introduced in 2020 for low-cost housing also reached Rs 38 billion last year. The highest monthly disbursement extended under the scheme was in December last year amounting to Rs 9.3 billion. The central bank in order to achieve the higher targets of house lending has raised the interest rate by 275 basis points during the last year and jacked up the interest rate to 9.75 percent. Previously PM Khan Also Lauded The Banks For Record Increase In House Financing Loans.
The statement issued by the central bank said that the MPMG scheme also received a gear up to a great extent during the previous year with Habib Bank, Meezan Bank, and bank Bank al Habib being the top three contributors to the financing “Financing under MPMG picked up momentum in 2021 as approvals for financing by banks grew from near zero to Rs117 billion in 2021. The banks have received requests of financing of Rs276 billion from potential customers, which indicates that approvals and disbursements will keep growing in coming months.” As per reports of the SBP, the Bank Alfalah turned out to be the leading bank with the highest disbursement of Rs3.3 billion followed by nine other banks with disbursements of over Rs2 billion each. Meezan Bank, Bank Islami, National Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, HBFCL, United Bank, MCB Bank, Bank of Punjab, and Habib Bank are included in the list.
The incumbent government under the dynamic leadership of the prime minister has promised the nation to provide five million houses to the masses who don’t have a house of their own. The government believes that boosting the construction and housing activities in the country will not only provide the masses with a respectful way of living but also gear up the cycle of the economy. The promotion of economic activities will also provide the masses with jobs and play an important role in bringing the lowest segment of the society to a reasonable and sustainable level as envisaged by the prime minister.
