The Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities will coordinate with a number of Egyptian banks to make 8,000 housing units available to low- and middle-income Egyptians, Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Thursday. The ministry is already building 100,000 housings units housing units for low- and middle-income citizens, Mabdbouly said in a statement. When completed, the project will be a "massive breakthrough" for a "huge" number of low- and middle-income people, he said. Madbouly said construction companies have been assigned to begin work in a number of Egyptian governorates. This project is a "significant priority" for the ministry, he said. There will be also a detailed schedule for construction of the housing units that will be completed by the end of this fiscal year on 30 June, as well as the housing units that will be completed the following December. Madbouly did not name the banks involved in the project, which was inspired by a Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) initiative. CBE announced an initiative to make housing more affordable in February. As part of the programme, the bank reduced interest on loans to 7% for low-income individuals and 8% for middle-income individuals. CBE also allocated around EGP 10bn for low-cost housing projects.
