National Bank of Kuwait-Egypt (NBK) signed an agreement with the Mortgage Finance Fund (MFF) belonging to the Ministry of Housing. The agreement grants real estate financing to low-income citizens, said NBK-Egypt's Managing Director, Yasser Hassan. During the signing of the agreement with Head of the Mortgage Finance Fund, May Abdel Hamid, Hassan said NBK is keen to participate in the promotion of low and middle income real estate finance. This is in response to the initiative launched by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) last year, which provided EGP 10bn for banks to refinance mortgage clients at low interest rates. He noted that this step also aligns with the governmental efforts to raise the social and economic levels of Egyptians, in addition to pushing the real estate sector to work harder to mobilise the national economy. According to Hassan, the bank has approved allocating EGP 50 to grant financing to low and middle income citizens. He explained that real estate loans will be provided to low-income citizens in cooperation with MFF, noting that the target group has a monthly income of EGP 2,250 per person or EGP 3,000 per family. He added that the financing will be provided for units that are worth less than EGP 150,000 when fully finished, and EGP 125,000 when half-finished. The bank will finance buying those units at an interest rate of no more than 7%. According to May Abdel Hamid, the initiative launched by CBE is considered a proactive leading step that aims to revitalise the real estate market in general and the corporate, government and private construction in particular. She explained that the initiative and its progress of recovery in the real estate market, contribute providing job opportunities in the current economic recession, as well as social dimension by providing adequate housing for middle and low income segments. Abdel Hamid said that the MFF provides financial support ranging between EGP 5,000 and 25,000 for units, after studies are conducted on the social condition of the applying low income citizens.
