Rs7.4 billion approved on spot in Faisalabad housing finance mela

KARACHI: Banks provided on spot conditional approvals of Rs7.4 billion under Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar (MPMG) scheme in a two-day mela held on March 19 and 20 in Faisalabad, a statement said on Monday.

More than 30,000 people visited the mela to obtain information about MPMG and apply for loans through banks’ one-window facilitation. Banks logged in application of Rs18 billion from the applicants, it said.

Speaking to inauguration ceremony of the mela, governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Reza Baqir said through efforts of the central bank, the government, Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority (NAPHDA), and banks, application for financing and their approvals were consistently increasing.

He added that banks were approving over Rs4.5 billion and disbursing around Rs2.3 billion per week. He continued that MPMG scheme had helped applications for financing for affordable housing (which was almost non-existent 15 months ago) reach to Rs357 billion.

He also informed that Rs157 billion of application had been approved and Rs56 billion had disbursed till then.

The ceremony was also addressed by Faiz Ullah Kamoka, chairman National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Mr. Farrukh Habib, minister of State for Information.

Both the speakers said the government’s focus was on promoting housing and construction finance, especially for low and affordable housing.

Beneficiaries of MPMG were getting financing at fixed and subsided rate as the government was providing subsidy for the underserved sector, they added.

CEOs of different banks, Faisalabad businessmen, vice chancellors of universities, and media were also present at the event.

Around 25 banks and 28 builders/developers installed stalls and made arrangements at the mela to receive applications, processing of applications, after eCIB clearance, calculating installment amount and giving conditional approval letters to the applicants.

Despite, scorching heat, long ques of interested applicants were seen on banks stalls.

In order to create healthy competition among banks, their performance during Mela were measured against five categories and made public to recognise their efforts.

The results of the competition showed Meezan Bank on top for having highest applications logins, followed by Bank of Punjab (BOP) and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) being quickest in offering the first conditional approval letter to an applicant.

Allied Bank Limited (ABL) was also recognised for providing highest number of conditional approval letters to applicants, and Bank Al-Habib for best quality of service as voted by visitors.