FMBN raises Housing Loan to N15m

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FMBN raises housing loan to N15m

..Says Housing fund stood at N52bn in 2009

The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has raised maximum amount accessible by individual contributors under the National Housing Scheme from N5 million to N15 million. The N15m represents a 200 per cent increase when compared with the previous facility of N5m.

It was also learnt the bank has been able to collect a cumulative amount of N52billion under the National Housing Fund as at the end of December 2009, Abdulsalam Ahmed, Managing Director of the bank who spoke to journalists in Abuja said it was necessary to to raise the sum accessible, considering the rising cost of building houses in Nigeria.According to him, the board of the bank took the decision two weeks ago, owing to the huge costs of building materials which was caused by current high inflationary trends in the country.

Ahmed further disclosed that other decisions taken at the board meeting include the recognition of other financial institutions such as Pension Fund Administrators, insurance companies, microfinance banks and universal banks as originators of mortgage loans. This, he stressed would help to expand the loan delivery channels as well as overcome the current constraints encountered by contributors. He further explained that the recent review would provide relief to contributors who have had to bear with significant equity contributions to home ownership acquisitions since the previous ceiling was insignificant to prices of houses especially in major cities of the country. For instance he said that "FMBN has reached an advanced stage of negotiations under the Euro Medium Term Note programme to raise N1.5bn from the international debt market.

"In addition, 26 states are presently contributing to the NHF Scheme. The NHF collection has tripled to over N1bn per month and cumulative collections as at December 2009 stood at N52bn," he stressed to justify the fact that the new strategic focus embarked upon by the new management of the bank had begun to yield encouraging results. He reaffirmed the bank's commitment to the short, medium and long term objectives of developing the housing sector.Also speaking, Ahmed refuted claims that it had replaced the 152 workers sacked during its downsizing exercise as widely being speculated.

Source: Businessday :: News you can trust

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