‘Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar’: Method for processing loan applications simplified

FAISALABAD: The modus operandi to process the loan applications for “Mera Pakistan MeraGhar” has been further simplified and teams of dedicated commercial banks would visit the major industrial and commercial entities to receive and process the eligible applications under the strict monitoring of SBP, said Muhammad Akbar Senior Joint Director State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

In a meeting with President Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) Atif Munir Sheikh, he said that SBP was making serious efforts to translate the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan to provide houses to the shelter-less persons. “In this connection a huge amount has been allocated for subsidized loans which would be disbursed through commercial banks”, he said and added that as this loan was allowed with minimum mark-up of 3 to 5%, hence commercial banks are least interested in this scheme.

He said that the genuine reservations of commercial banks as well as applicants have been redressed and individuals getting salaries above Rs.25 thousand and falling within the age limit of below 55 years are eligible for this loan and their applications would be processed by the concerned banks at their workplace. “The teams of commercial banks will physically visit the industrial and commercial units to further confirm that if the applicant or its spouse has any house,” he said and added that plot owners would be exempted as they need finance for the construction of houses.

He further said that the HR section of the concerned organization would confirm the antecedents of the applicant while the bank team would process it in addition to getting two photographs of the applicant.

Muhammad Akbar said that the teams of SBP would also monitor this process to ensure expeditious processing of the loan applications with the help of concerned chambers.

Atif Munir Sheikh, President FCCI said that the Government has launched a number of schemes to facilitate the low-income groups including “Mera Pakistan MeraGhar”, “Kamyab Jawan” and “Assan Karobar” etc.

He said that these schemes could not yield required results due to the lukewarm attitude of the commercial banks. He said that being a regulatory body, SBP must intervene and direct commercial banks to focus on the effective marketing of these schemes. He pointed out the commercial banks are lending with 14% mark-up and hence they are least interested in these schemes with only 3 to 5% interest rate.

He said that SBP must remove the genuine reservations of the serious applicants. He proposed that the Government should direct commercial banks through SBP to allocate 70% of their total loan portfolio to the corporate sector while the remaining finances must be reserved exclusively for these schemes including SMEs and female entrepreneurs. President FCCI assured full cooperation to make these schemes a total success and said that he would direct the FCCI secretariat to circulate the details of the “Mera Pakistan MeraGhar” scheme among all members for the benefit of their workers fulfilling the required conditions.

He also invited the Governor and MD SBP to visit FCCI so that other issues relating to the commercial banks could also be thrashed out on the spot.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022