Abdul Wajid Khan

The revised version of the Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar (MPMG) scheme will benefit the low-income group of the society and trigger economic activities in the country, WealthPK reports.

Banks have already been directed to expeditiously process the applications of customers seeking financing for construction of homes, as the revised version of the scheme will be launched by the end of the current month.

According to a document of the Ministry of Finance, a copy of which is available with WealthPK, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has already taken a number of measures to facilitate customers in getting loan under the scheme.

The banks have been advised to convey their decision on loan application of a customer within 30 days from the date of receipt. SBP has also asked banks to deploy e-tracking mechanism, allowing the customers to track status of processing of their applications online.

A number of banks are also accepting applications of customers through their websites to save the time of customers. SBP has devised a comprehensive complaint resolution system to resolve complaints of customers, who face any issue including undue delay in processing of their loan applications.

The complaint resolution mechanism comprises an IT-based portal supported by a comprehensive network of SBP and commercial banks’ focal persons across the country to take care of problems faced by applicants. Complaints are resolved within seven working days.

SBP has also established help desks at its offices across the country to facilitate the customers in lodging of complaints through the portal. The customers, who cannot lodge complaints through online portal, may visit their nearest SBP Banking Services Corporation office to register complaints.

The banks have, on their part, established a joint call centre to answer queries and resolve complaints of their customers under the scheme. Banks have designated 50 percent of their branches, more than 7,700, to directly accept and process applications under the scheme. All other branches refer the customers to their nearest designated branches for submission of their financing requests.

SBP continuously conducts mystery shopping of designated and referral branches to provide insights to the banks for corrective measures to improve their systems, align their branch premises and train officials for providing maximum facilitation to the customers, seeking loan under the scheme.

According to the latest figures presented by the SBP, the disbursement under the scheme has reached Rs100 billion. The applications for Rs500 billion were submitted under the scheme and loans of Rs236 billion were approved till June 30, 2022.

An official of Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority (NAPHDA) told WealthPK that the increase in banks credit to the housing sector was a good sign. He said that it would help the low-income segment of the society to build houses. He added that the increase in housing finance would boost economy by generating economic activities in the country.

“Under the scheme, the government is providing subsidy on markups. Deserving people can have subsidised house loan facility. The government has targeted the low-income segment of the society. Cases are approved after strict verification by relevant authorities to ensure transparency. Only deserving applicants are being given priority,” he said.

The official said that although the department faced certain issues in implementation of projects, including land acquisition, work on different ongoing schemes under NAPHDA was smoothly underway. Under the scheme, ongoing projects will be completed in due time.

SBP issued initial version of government’s markup subsidy scheme for housing finance in October 2020 while its revised version, incorporating feedback of stakeholders especially banks, was issued in March 2021.

SBP is currently reviewing the scheme and it will be relaunched by end of this month with revise features because of changes in macroeconomic conditions.

Samar Hasnain, Executive Director Development Finance Group at the SBP, said in a statement that the finance minister had already formed a special committee to study the scheme. After getting clearance from the government, the new features of the schemes are likely to be announced by the end of the current month.

Karachi Inter-Bank Offered Rate (KIBOR) was eight percent and the margin for banks was four percent when the scheme was launched. During the last few months, fundamentals began to change with the KIBOR increasing to 16 percent, forcing the government to review the scheme.

Independent News Pakistan-Wealthpk