‘Loans at single-digit interest to low-income group to buy flats’

FE Report
The government will provide loans at a single-digit rate of interest to low-income group of people for purchasing flats.
"We are considering introducing bank loans at a single-digit interest rate for the limited-income group of people for buying flats aiming to meet the growing demand of accommodation," Housing and Public Works Minister Engr Mosharraf Hossain said while addressing a seminar marking the World Urbanism Day in the city Friday.
He said the loans will be of long term at a single-digit interest rate that will also help flourish the housing sector of the country.   
Municipal Association of Bangladesh (MAB) arranged the event.
The minister said the general people of the country do not embezzle bank money; rather they try heart and soul to return that.
"If we introduce bank loans for buying flats, then the housing sector will get dynamism and the 200 backward linkage industries of the sector will flourish smoothly," he said.   
He said the National Housing Authority (NHA) is working relentlessly to build a planned city. The NHA has built residential areas in 45 upazilas of the country.
He expressed the view that if any municipality (pourashava) comes up with land, then the NHA will move for building a residential area there.
He said the land provided by the pourashava authority must be non-agricultural.
"It will be possible to stem the ongoing rush of people towards the capital through building residential areas in pourashavas," he said.      
Mr Hossain said the NHA and REHAB (Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh) are jointly building a planned residential area on 1,500 acres of land at Mirpur in the capital.  There will be flats in the area for low-income group of people.
He asked for taking the present scenario of Dhaka and Chittagong into consideration while building a planned city.
And considering the matter the civic amenities are being kept separate in Purbachal and Jhilmil housing projects. These housing projects will not depend on the capital for water, sewerage, gas and power supplies. These projects will have their own sources for providing civic amenities that will allow them to be smart cities.    
With the President of MAB and Mayor of Bera Pourashava of Pabna Abdul Baten in the chair the seminar was also addressed, among others, by secretary of local government division Manzur Hossain, renowned urban planner Prof Nazrul Islam, local government expert Tofail Ahmed, additional secretary of local government division Ashok Madav Roy, professor of Bangladesh University Engineering and Technology (BUET) Mojibur Rahman, managing director of MIDAS Dr Mashiur Rahman and mayors of different pourashavas.
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