Lebanon to resume housing financing in US dollars: Antoine Habib

The Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Manager of the Banque de L'habitat, Antoine Habib, expected the resumption of real estate financing in US dollars within a few months.

 

This step was taken after the completion of legal and logistical arrangements for starting the implementation of the provisions of the loan concluded with the "Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development," at a value of 50 million Kuwaiti dinar, equivalent to about 160 million US dollars.
 
In a statement, he said that the decision to stabilize the loan by the management of the fund opened a "large hole in the wall" of the forced cessation of credit and advance operations by commercial and investment banks in Lebanon due to the worsening monetary and financial crises since the fall of 2019.

 

In addition to generating intractable problems in all banking operations, especially in the field of liquidity and deposit management.
 
He stated that the bank's management has begun to complete the procedural steps required to launch the package of housing loans in US dollars, in coordination with the relevant ministries and institutions, and within a plan to resume granting long-term loans in US dollars, especially to those with low and medium incomes, to enable them to own their own homes outside the capital, and in line with the directions of the bank that envisage an effective contribution to comprehensive development.
 
Habib considered that the fund's management decision not only proves the financing loan but also translates morally and materially into the continuous Arab support, especially the Gulf for Lebanon, and establishes the pioneering identity of the regional financial institution as a model for Arab economic cooperation and integration in financing economic and social development projects on the parallel side.

He pointed out that fixing the support of the Arab Fund at a value of 50 million dinar, which was recently confirmed after a meeting that included the Housing Bank, the Council for Development and Reconstruction, and a delegation from the Arab Fund, requires the flow of payments in three stages, which will allow the bank to launch housing loan products in US dollars in amounts ranging between 40 ad 50 thousand US dollars for each loan.

He added that work is underway to translate this proposal after the approval of the concerned authorities from the Board of Directors of the Housing Bank, the Governor of Banque du Liban, the Ministers of Finance and Social Affairs, and the preparation of transactions and contracts.
 
He stressed the importance of these loans in moving the real estate stagnation, stressing "the priority of giving loans to people with limited income to own apartments less than 150 meters in villages, cities and the Lebanese countryside to reduce displacement from the countryside, in accordance with the housing bank system."