Deputy governor Sima Kamil explains SBP’s approach to housing finance

KARACHI: Deputy Governor of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Sima Kamil has said that the State Bank is aggressively working for the promotion of housing finance and banks have been asked to increase the housing and construction loan portfolio to at least 5 percent of their private sector lending by December 2021.

She was addressing at the launching ceremony of Certification Courses of Housing Finance Legal Framework, Mortgage, Monitoring & Documentation at The Institute of Bankers Pakistan (IBP) on Thursday.

She said that housing and construction is very important sector for the growth of the economy but the country’s mortgage ratio to GDP is lowest in region. The housing and construction sector not only provides direct employment, but also support over 40 different industries, she added.

The Deputy Governor also spoke on the measures taken by the government and the SBP for the development of housing finance sector. She elaborated at length about targets and incentives given by the Central Bank to promote the Housing Finance Sector besides stressing the need for training for capacity building of banking staff in the housing finance sector.

She also highlighted the role and contribution of Steering Committee on Housing and Construction Finance in the initiatives taken by the SBP and significance of capacity building staff in the housing finance field.

Sima Kamil also lauded the role and contribution of IBP for enabling the financial institutions to move forward with an energized and creative workforce and asked the participants to derive full benefits from IBP’s training and certificate programs on various topics including Housing Finance.

Earlier, Chief Executive of IBP Mansur-Ur-Rehman Khan in his welcome address narrated the sequence of events leading to development of courses for the banks.

He highlighted and appreciated the efforts of the teams engaged in the development of certificate courses of Housing Finance. He also lauded the initiatives taken by the Government of Pakistan and SBP for the development of Housing Finance Sector.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020