Public servants’ soft loan packages increased

Nethali Struys

Steps have been taken to increase the soft loan package offered to public servants by Rs. 200,000, a National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) spokesman told the Daily News.

The soft loan package of Rs. 300,000 had been increased up to Rs. 500,000 to uplift the living standards of public servants.

The enhanced loan is to be provided under the Upahara Housing Loan Scheme, he said.

It had been revealed that 75 percent of loan applications received by commercial banks were for housing loans and most applications had been rejected due to not being able to fulfill bank requirement. The Upahara housing loan aims at public servants whose loan applications had been rejected by commercial banks, he pointed out.

The NHDA has approved 2,305 loan applications during the first half of this year and more than 3,900 loan applications in the second half, up to last week.