Mera Pakistan housing scheme: Banks receive Rs200b worth applications

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 05 Jan 2023

The State Bank of Pakistan has revealed that the banks have received applications worth over Rs200 billion for low-cost housing loans till October 18, 2021, under the Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar (MPMG) scheme.

Out of this, the banks have approved financing of Rs78 billion, reads a statement issued by the SBP. The central bank said that loans worth Rs18 billion have already been disbursed.

Consequently, this brings the housing and construction credit of banks to Rs305 billion at the end of September 2021. It is an increase of 84 percent compared to last year’s figure of Rs166 billion.

In July 2020, the state bank advised commercial banks to increase their lending for housing and construction sectors to at least 5 percent of their private domestic sector advances by December 2021. To assist in this, the State Bank advised quarterly targets to each bank after individual consultation, leading to the concerted effort.

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State Bank Governor Dr. Reza Baqir appreciated the progress made by the banking industry in supporting low-cost housing finance for first-time homeowners under the Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar.

Dr. Baqir stressed the need to accelerate the pace of approvals by banks to match the requests for financing to ensure that people are not discouraged by the processing time.