Upcoming budget: Govt planning on interest rate subsidy for 3, 5 marla houses

Islamabad: The government is working on an interest rate subsidy for 3 and 5 marla houses in the upcoming budget, with the government engaged in preparing a low-cost package with a repayment period of 10 to 12 years.

In view of the estimated shortage of 14 million residential units in the country, the government is working on preparing an affordable package with an interest rate subsidy for 3 and 5 marla houses and a repayment period of 10 to 12 years in the upcoming budget.

However, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is also working to increase this possible subsidy on 10 marla residential units for those building their first home across the country, but the IMF may raise objections to it.

The potential cost of interest subsidy for 3 and 5 marla houses could be Rs50-70 billion per year, but the cost for 10 marla will definitely be higher.

The banking sector in the country faced difficulties in mortgage financing, and raised the issue of stay orders being issued by the courts while paying the outstanding loan installments.

Legal changes were made, but there may be further procedural requirements that are creating obstacles in the way of promoting mortgage financing in Pakistan.

In recent meetings on affordable housing in the country, representatives of almost all banks raised the issue of legal obstacles in the recovery of outstanding installments, so the Ministry of Law was consulted to resolve it before promoting the construction and housing sector on a large scale.

According to the latest census, there are about 30 million kacha/pakka housing units in the country, but if the shortage is analyzed based on the need for quality housing, there is no accurate data regarding the shortage of housing units in the country.