The prime minister appreciated the efforts of the government officials and the heads of the private banks for establishing a system to benefit the poor in every possible way.
Monitoring Desk –
Prime Minister Imran Khan asked on Thursday for facilitating the poor people in the attainment of loans from the banks while taking care of their self-respect.
He said this when he was holding a meeting with the National Coordination Committee on Housing, Construction and Development.
In the presence of the prime minister, the State Bank of Pakistan governor explained the facility of loans for the needy and the middle class people on easy installments.
Authorities from the Meezan Bank, Bank Al-Habib, National Bank of Pakistan, Allied Bank Limited, Habib Bank and Bank of Punjab told the prime minister about the facility of loans under the Naya Pakistan Housing Programme.
It was also discussed in the meeting that after setting up exclusive desks at the corresponding branches, the procedure of receiving loans had been made stress-free. It was further conveyed to the meeting that the private banks would release loans under the Islamic as well as conventional banking.
The banks’ heads guaranteed their backing and assistance to the government in the uplift of the construction sector and making it easy for the poor people to construct their own houses.
They praised the prime minister and the government’s economic team for putting efforts for the survival of the business community and the banking sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting was also updated that different technological methods were being used to provide loans in the minimum time by verifying the applicants’ documents in a quick way.
The prime minister was also informed that it was the beginning of the project and the number of private banks offering loans would increase gradually thus more private banks would be giving loans.
The Punjab chief secretary explained in the meeting that an online portal had been activated for the constructors where applications are received and judged on merit. With the help of this online portal, delays in the loaning process would be minimized by involving the institutions concerned online in this process, he said adding that, so far, the portal had received 6,994 applications of which 54 percent applications had been approved.
He further told the meeting that, after receiving a loan application, a timeline is provided to the applicant for the approval of the applications. With the help of this application, the applicant also remains in touch with the concerned department about his/her case to keep a watch on the progress of the case.
The prime minister appreciated the efforts of the government officials and the heads of the private banks for establishing a system to benefit the poor in every possible way. He urged all the participants to take care of the self-respect of the poor people while applying for the loan.
He also asked the chief secretaries of all the provinces to make their provinces tech-friendly to make use of the online system in a better way.
He said that the process of approving the loan applications could be made quick and on merit if the applications are received, judged and decided online.
