Talking to reporters after the inauguration ceremony, the prime minister said people would soon begin to see the progress on the government’s housing initiatives.
“You will all see the impact of it from this year because of the level of construction which is happening. You will yourself see the level of economic activity that will be generated in Pakistan and people will get livelihoods and there will be wealth creation.”
Prime Minister Imran said no government in the world could build houses for everyone but what it could do instead was to facilitate and provide opportunities to people so they could “easily” build or purchase their own houses.
Turning to his government’s efforts in this regard, the premier said his government had “for the first time” in the country’s history approached banks and offered them incentives to set aside Rs380 billion for housing finance.
“All private banks put aside this amount which the SBP (State Bank of Pakistan) is monitoring. The government is giving a subsidy of Rs300,000 for up to 100,000 houses. For example, if a house is worth Rs2.1 million and you get a subsidy of Rs300,000 on that, it [costs] Rs18m. This means the instalments to be paid monthly are further reduced.
“This makes it easier for the common man. What he pays in rent can [now] be paid in instalments and he gets to own the house as well,” he elaborated.
The foreclosure law that took two years to pass had made it easier for banks to offer housing loans, the premier recalled. “You will hopefully see the housing industry rise.”
When asked about the delay in the completion of the project, he replied that the land had been purchased 25 years ago by the Workers’ Welfare Fund (WWF) which he said was a “mass of corruption”.
