PM announces subsidy for housing project
KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday announced a subsidy of Rs30 billion for the Naya Pakistan Housing Project, urging the construction industry and investors to “take advantage of the opportunity,” as the government tries to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Imran Khan on Friday said that government will pay Rs300,000 of the total cost of a house for the first 100,000 houses constructed under the Naya Pakistan Housing project.
The whole world is worried about how to run their economy, he said, adding that aid packages are being given in all countries.
The premier said Pakistan has decided to run its economy in the pandemic through the housing and construction industry.
Imran was addressing the media ater chairing a meeting of the National Coordination Committee on Housing, Construction and Development in Islamabad on Friday.
A Rs300,000 subsidy will be given to each house in the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme. This will be for the first 100,000 houses in the projects. The second decision was that people will have to pay only 5% interest on a five marla house.
Another decision made in the meeting was that the State Bank of Pakistan has instructed banks to keep 5% of their total porfolio for the construction industry. This makes up Rs330 billion.
Fourth decision made with consensus from all provinces was to make it a one-window operation to ease the process for builders and the construction industry. “We are decreasing the requirements for no-objection certificates and placing time limits on approvals,” the premier said. These conditions, he clarified, are only for this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. We will have to adhere to our international obligations ater Dec.31, 2020, he said.
A gradual recovery in Pakistan is expected in the fiscal year 2021 as the country’s economy reopens, said a report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The report — “Policy Actions Taken by Countries” — reviews various steps Pakistan has taken since March to deal with the COVID-19 crisis. The IMF notes that the near-term economic outlook of the country has worsened notably, and growth is estimated at -0.4 per cent in financial year 2020.
Accordingtothisreport,sincemid-april,thefederal government, in coordination with the provinces, has been gradually easing lockdown arrangements, by allowing “low-risk industries” to restart operation and “small retail shops” to reopen with newly developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPS).