Housing finance loans ceiling raised

Md Mazadul Hoque | Published: April 18, 2011 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Md Mazadul Hoque
State-run housing financier has raised its lending ceiling by Tk 1.0 million to keep pace with the rising costs of house building, its top official said Sunday. Managing director of Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation (BHBFC) Kazi Faqurul Islam said individuals would now get between Tk 2.0 and 5.0 million instead of Tk 1.5-4.0 million for the construction of houses. So far, the corporation has financed nearly 170,000 houses lending out as much as Tk 42.24 billion, according to statistics available with the corporation. The corporation's outstanding credit in July-March period of the current fiscal amounted to Tk 2012 million. In 2010, the total outstanding loans were Tk 2715 million, the statistics said. The corporation realised Tk 2770 million up to July-March of current fiscal. It recovered loans worth Tk 4045 million in the last fiscal. The BHBFC boss said if the loan recovery rate "proves satisfactory and funding is available" credit disbursement in the next fiscal would be boosted. The official said credit disbursement would be increased by 6.4 per cent at the end of the current fiscal year compared with the previous fiscal. Credits worth Tk 1540 million were disbursed upto March of current fiscal and the disbursement was Tk 2340 million in FY 2009-2010. An official said credit disbursement at the end of FY 2010-2011 is expected to reach Tk 2340 million. The top official of the corporation said credit sanction for housing would be increased by four per cent by the end of current fiscal. The BHBFC sanctioned Tk 1860 million for housing purposes in the first nine months of current fiscal while it provided housing loans worth Tk 2500 million in 2010 fiscal year. "Our target is to sanction Tk 2600 million in the current fiscal," Mr. Islam said. He said the corporation is expanding fast and will automate its operation in view of the fast-changing business landscape. "We've signed a deal with Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) to automate our offices and it is expected to be implemented this year" Mr. Islam said. He said that five more zonal offices would be set up at Uttra, Gulshan, Mirpur, Mohammadpur, and Babubazar at old Dhaka to better reach out to its thousands of clients. Another zonal office is also planned in Narayanganj. Although founded in 1952, the corporation was reconstituted in 1973 after the independence of Bangladesh. With a paid-up capital of Tk 1100 million, the BHBFC is the country's only state housing finance organisation.