HDFC housing loans increase

The HDFC Bank has issued 4199 housing loans for the past six months to the value of Rs one billion in total.

The bank has issued Rs 406 million housing finances for the first quarter of this year,HDFC Bank CEO/General Manager Suresh Amerasekera told Daily News Business.

HDFC Bank being a semi-government bank, expects to issue Rs two billion for housing loans before December.

The bank needs to concentrate more on making housing finance convenient for customers.

"The non performing loans (NPL) ratio is 10 percent at the moment and it is expected to bring the NPL level down to five percent during this year. Since the interest rates offered by the Commercial banks have come down, there is a huge demand for housing loans among people," he said.

The demand for housing loans in the Northern and Eastern areas is increasingly higher as people in those areas have started construction of their dwellings.

The HDFC Bank has opened a branch in Vavuniya in June and three branches will be set up in Mannar, Trincomalee and Jaffna.

"We want housing finance to be customer friendly and needs to make less paper work during the process of getting a loan. People will be encouraged to get a loan by adhering to these methods," Amerasekera said.

The bank will not be going for a rights issue as there is no need for immediate capital requirement.

HP