World Bank representatives taking part in the second conference of the public-private Development Partnership initiative, titled “Partners in Developing Mortgage Finance in Egypt,” will present the bank’s strategy for supporting Egypt’s mortgage finance system. This forms part of the social housing program through which the government aims to provide one million homes and ensure adequate housing for low-income groups.
At the conference in Cairo tomorrow, Tuesday, senior housing and real estate investment officials, decision-makers, and banking leaders will review the bank’s mortgage lending to Egypt to date. They will also discuss details of the Social Housing Fund’s $500 million World Bank financing for mortgages, which will improve the ability of around 3.6 million citizens to own homes.
Participating Egyptian banking executives will examine the central bank’s mortgage initiative for low- and middle-income households, its role in stimulating the sector, the financing granted, and the number of beneficiaries so far. They will also discuss why private commercial banks have not participated in an initiative the government considers important for sustainable development, given the sector’s pressing economic and social implications.
Discussions will cover banks’ role in designing mortgage programs for all social groups, Islamic financing methods such as murabaha, leasing, and partnership, their potential to stimulate the sector, and demand for them. Opportunities and indicators point to growth in the coming years alongside the expected launch of major real estate projects, particularly administrative and commercial developments, led by the million-home project and the new administrative capital.
Across several sessions, the conference will examine mortgage finance as an effective way to improve the real estate investment environment, the role of mortgage service providers, and legislative bodies’ work to remove procedural and legal obstacles. It will present the system’s goals and expected economic effects and an integrated vision for turning the relationships among banks, finance companies, and developers into complementary partnerships that accelerate production and meet market needs. The World Bank Group has supported the Egyptian government’s housing-sector development for more than ten years.
Meanwhile, mortgage financing provided by finance companies rose in the first quarter, from the beginning of January 2015 through the end of March 2015, to around E£270.4 million ($35.43 million), more than double the E£126.5 million recorded in the same period of 2014.
Total mortgage financing provided by companies since the industry began reached around E£5 billion by the end of March 2015, compared with E£4.4 billion at the end of March 2014, an increase of 16.4 percent.