Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz has urged the construction industry to take advantage of the government’s new construction policy by 31st of December.
Addressing a news conference along with Chairman Naya Pakistan Housing Authority Lt-Gen (Retd) Anwar Ali Haider in Islamabad on Sunday he said people availing this facility will not be asked about their source of investment.
He said government is making all out efforts to mitigate hurdles being faced by the construction industry. He said a committee has also been formed to solve issues related to construction industry.
The Minister said government has devised a one-window operation to reduce the process time required for clearance of documents. He said people, who desire to construct their homes by borrowing from banks, will be given loans at a subsidized interest rate. Shibli Faraz said the interest rate of five marla houses will be five percent, whereas, fourteen marla houses it will be seven percent. He said government has asked the banks to dedicate about 330 billion rupees of their lending for construction industry. The Minister said in first phase one hundred thousand houses will be constructed.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman Naya Pakistan Housing Authority Anwar Ali Haider said government was committed to start construction activity at a large scale.
He said government has eased the procedures involved in obtaining NoCs and maps to facilitate the investors in construction industry. He said fixed tax regime has been introduced for builders and land developers and the tax has been reduced by 90 per cent.
Naya Pakistan housing scheme chairperson said a lucky draw would be conducted of the 1.6 million finalised loans applications they had received.
Speaking of the construction sector, Lt Gen Hyder explained that people in that industry were facing three major issues, including taxes, financing, and required approvals. However, the incumbent PTI-led government intended to provide convenience to the common person.
“Those who cannot reveal the sources of their money have been given an opportunity to invest until December 31,” he said.
“Loans would be given at 5% interest rate to those who build 5-marla houses and at 7% to those who build 10-marla houses,” Hyder explained. Everyone would also be given the option of a loan under the Islamic banking system, he added.
The Naya Pakistan housing scheme chief said those with lower incomes would be given a sum of Rs300,000. “The private sector would have to take the lead in building homes in this industry,” he added.
Speaking of the requests for the Naya Pakistan housing scheme, he said a total of two million applications had been submitted so far and 1.6 of those had gone to the second stage after the National Database and Registration Authority employed certain filters.
