NBP is committed to Housing Sector Finance

Karachi: The President and CEO of National Bank of Pakistan, Mr. Saeed Ahmad, reaffirmed the commitment of NBP to grow and develop Housing Sector Financing in Pakistan. He was speaking at the signing ceremony of the Shareholders’ Agreement of “Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company” (PMRC), at a local hotel in Karachi.

In his speech, Mr. Ahmad said that the lack of proper housing for low income citizens may lead to serious social, economic and law & order issues. Of a shortage of 10 million housing units in the country, 80-90% is estimated to be for lower income groups, and affordable housing was therefore a critical need.

He recalled an incident when he was on a road journey in the interior of the country, when he stopped by the side of the road and spoke to a family who were living in shanties (“katchi abadi”). In the conversation, the head of the family said that he worked on housing construction sites but could not afford to build a house for his family. The irony of this, Mr. Ahmad stated, had left a deep impression on him and it was his heartfelt desire to see real progress in delivering housing to the poor. 

He said that solutions to the housing shortfall require out-of-the-box thinking and the authorities need to give serious thought to creating the kind of institutional infrastructure that would help address the problem. The launch of the PMRC is, he added, a vital step in this direction, but of course further building blocks need to be put in place, including measures to bring the construction industry into the formal sector and to eliminate legal and regulatory obstacles to the provision of low cost housing.***