By Sajid Irfan

ISLAMABAD, August 2 (INP-WealthPK): Rising inflation and a steep increase in the cost of construction materials in Pakistan has made it difficult for the low-wage workforce to build a new house or renovate an old one.

In order to facilitate this marginalized group of the population, the Ministry of Housing and Works (MoHW) has taken the initiative to give interest-free loans all over Pakistan including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Iftikhar Ali Shallwani, Federal Secretary of MoHW, told WealthPK that high inflation had made it very difficult for a low wage person to build a new house or to renovate an old one. Keeping in view this fact, the ministry has taken the initiative to facilitate the low-wage people to have their own homes.

Iftikhar said the ministry has released Rs7 billion to Akhuwat Foundation. In 2019, an MOU was signed between the MoHW and Akhuwat Microfinance under which the MoHW released the money in two phases. In 2019, the ministry released Rs5 billion to the Akhuwat Foundation in the first phase and Rs2 billion in the second phase.

He said the loan programme catered for construction of a new house, repair and revocation of an old house and extension of accommodation by building extra rooms. This low-cost housing scheme is for all over Pakistan, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

“A needy person can get a maximum loan of Rs1 million. The payback process is the monthly instalment of Rs9,000 to Rs15,000 per month but the average is Rs11,000 which is quite easy and affordable. The loan is given on zero mark-up and is interest-free. The payback time for interest-free loan is 3 to 5 years. The people are very happy with this scheme and the recovery ratio is 99.9%. We are considering extending the financing to approximately Rs5 billion,” he added.

‘’Akhuwat Microfinance bank has financed 18,785 houses so far all over the country. Under the scheme, 1,653 new houses have been constructed, while 1,360 are those in which extra rooms have been constructed. As many as 760 houses have been extended loans for repair and renovation. So far, 5,095,478 families have taken loan under this programme,” said the federal secretary housing.

Iftikhar further said there were 837 branches of Akhuwat across Pakistan including Gilgit-Baltistan and Azam Jammu and Kashmir. The output of this whole scheme is very fruitful, he added.

Nasir Yousaf is a beneficiary of this interest-free loan program. Talking to WealthPK, he said, “I have taken a loan of Rs1 million from Akhuwat for construction of extra rooms in my old house. This programme is very helpful for the low-wage people and the instalment process is also very easy and trouble-free.

Awais Akhtar, another beneficiary, told WealthPk, ‘’I took a loan of Rs1 million for repair and renovation of my house. Now I am living in a fully furnished home with the help of Akhuwat microfinance.

Independent News Pakistan—Wealthpk