Islamabad: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqi on Thursday said that as many as 7,700 branches of commercial banks situated across the country had commenced with the disbursement of home loans to facilitate the construction of houses under the government’s Naya Pakistan Housing Programme (NPHP), a news source reported.
He expressed his views on the matter during a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Housing, Construction and Development; presided over by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan in the capital city.
Representatives from National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank, United Bank, MCB Bank, Allied Bank, Bank Al Habib, Askari Bank, Meezan Bank, Faysal Bank, JS Bank, Bank of Punjab, Dubai Islamic Bank, Soneri Bank, BankIslami, Habib Metro Bank, Al Baraka Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, First Women Bank, and Bank of Khyber were all present at the occasion.
The SBP governor stated that a steering committee had been formed in coordination with all designated private banks to regularly monitor the disbursement of loans to the housing sector; adding that the personnel concerned had also launched an awareness campaign on housing finance for the society’s middle and low-middle income groups.
He said that commercial banks had received a large number of loan applications; further stating that the central bank had launched a complaints redressal portal to address all loan-related concerns of the applicants.
In response, the prime minister lauded the commercial banks for providing home loans to the underprivileged; saying that the provision of housing finance by private financial institutions was a first in the country’s history.
