THE State Bank and Pakistan Banks Association have claimed that the housing and construction loans portfolio of banks has grown by Rs54bn to Rs202bn from July to March compared to a stagnant position in the same period last year. “Such growth in housing and construction finance in such a period has never been witnessed in the country’s history,” the joint statement reads. It says that bank financing for housing and construction is likely to increase significantly as mortgage finance activity under the Mera Pakistan, Mera Ghar scheme picks up. SBP data on house-building loans paints a different picture though. It shows the stock of housing finance to citizens has risen by just Rs13.7bn to Rs93.5bn. If house-building advances to bank employees — the stock of which has grown by Rs25bn — is also considered, the total housing finance portfolio increases by Rs38.8bn to Rs228.3bn. Even construction loans to developers/builders for residential buildings have grown by merely Rs11bn. Data disc

  KARACHI: Work on promoting and facilitating housing and construction finance is progressing rapidly and upward momentum is building up as a result of recent measures undertaken by the government and the State Bank of Pakistan   (SBP). In a statement on Tuesday, the SBP highlighted that the housing and construction finance portfolio rose from Rs148 billion at the end of June 2020 to Rs202 billion in March 2021. “This represents a growth of Rs54 billion or 36% in three quarters of FY21 compared to a stagnant position in earlier quarters,” it said. “Such level of growth in housing and construction finance within a short period of time has never been witnessed in Pakistan’s history.” It added that overall bank financing for the housing and construction sector would surge further because the mortgage finance activity under the “Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar” scheme was gaining pace. As of April 20, 2021, banks had received applications for financing of more than Rs52 billion from the general pu

LAHORE: Police launched a search operation at Harpalke village after an armed clash broke out between police and some residents of Heir village on a road construction dispute with the Defence Housing Authority on Friday. Police arrested more than 15 protesters after they allegedly shot at and injured a policeman and damaged the official vehicle. Two other policemen suffered injuries during the scuffle with the villagers. There were reports that the incident occurred when a road leading to the village was being constructed by the DHA following the Phase IX project. The villagers feared that the DHA was going to encroach upon the road which was on land owned by Harpalke residents. Some witnesses told media persons that the scuffle first broke out between the DHA guards and the villagers. They said on finding the situation getting out of control, the DHA administration called the senior police officers who dispatched a heavy contingent of police to deal with the law and order situation. A

  LAHORE: Pakistanis must brace for further increase in prices of almost everything this time, not because of government’s incompetence, but due to increase in global rates of all raw materials needed for production of commodities. Covid-19 first devastated the most advanced economies, including China, Europe and the United States. That killed the demand for numerous raw materials and commodities. Only food and healthcare sectors saw rising demands. The deadly virus is still playing havoc in the United States, but its economy has been given a huge fiscal stimulus to roar back. Chinese and European economies are rebounding. The rebound is accompanied with surge in demand be it steel, copper or lumber. China is one of the largest users of raw materials and also largest supplier of some. There is stiff competition for most raw materials among these economies taking the prices to new heights. The cost for almost everything is on the rise whether it is construction, vehicles or food. In fac