Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the balloting ceremony of a housing scheme for laborers in Islamabad on Thursday. During the inauguration ceremony the prime minister termed it a “first in the history of Pakistan”.
Talking to the media, the prime minister Khan said people would soon begin to see the progress on the government’s housing initiatives.
“You will all see the impact of it from this year because of the level of construction which is happening. You will yourself see the level of economic activity that will be generated in Pakistan and people will get livelihoods and there will be wealth creation.”
Prime Minister Imran said no government in the world could build houses for everyone but what it could do instead was to facilitate and provide opportunities to people so they could “easily” build or purchase their own houses.
While explaining his government’s efforts, the premier said his government had “for the first time” in the country’s history approached banks and offered them incentives to set aside Rs380 billion for housing finance.
“All private banks put aside this amount which the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is monitoring. The government is giving a subsidy of Rs300,000 for up to 100,000 houses. For example, if a house is worth Rs2.1 million and you get a subsidy of Rs300,000 on that, it costs Rs18m. This means the installments to be paid monthly are further reduced.
“This makes it easier for the common man. What he pays in rent can now be paid in instalments and he gets to own the house as well,” he elaborated.
