ISLAMABAD, Nov 27 (APP):The government has allocated an amount of Rs 5 billion for construction and repair of houses during the financial year 2019-2020, which will be disbursed among the poor through a Service Provider Organization (SPO).
This allocation will be utilized for low-cost housing as Ministry of Housing and Works and SPO Akhuwat Islamic Micro-finance have already signed an agreement for provision of interest-free loans to the poor segments of the society, the official source said here Wednesday.
He said the government of Pakistan would provide Rs 5 billion to M/s Akhuwat for disbursement of small loans throughout the country. Housing is focus area of the present government and NPHP is flagship initiative which envisages provision of shelter for the citizens of Pakistan.
This agreement is a reflection of this initiative and it will also contribute towards low-cost housing scheme of present government. It is worth mentioning here that M/s Akhuwat Islamic Microfinance has been selected for the task through competitive process under PPRA rules.
As per salient features of this agreement, the loans will be provided to poor and deserving families under this project, which will be interest-free. The loan will be utilized to construct new houses, additional rooms, kitchen and bath rooms including renovation and up-gradation with loan amount up to Rs.1 million. There will be no application processing fee and the loan will be recovered on monthly installment basis from 24th to 60th installments.
Regarding efforts of the government to fulfill demands in housing sector, the source said that work on a number of housing projects was underway. He said that Federal Government Employees Housing Authority and Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation (PHAF) are self-finance organizations and several projects are underway by them in housing sector.
