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Published : 19 Sep 2018, 06:03 PM
They can borrow up to Tk 7.5 million in home loans with 5 percent interest from Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali banks.
“Initially the employees can take loans from the four state-owned commercial banks and also from the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation,” Md Habibur Rahman, additional secretary at the finance ministry, told bdnews24.com.
“We are prepared to sanction the loans once the MoU is signed,” Ataur Rahman, managing director of Rupali Bank, told bdnews24.com.
The government may also sign MoUs with private banks to sanction the home loans for its employees, he added.
The loan application form has already been prepared and the finance minister has approved a summery related to this, according to the finance ministry officials.
The finance ministry will sign a memorandum of understanding with the four banks and BHBFC at the end of this month and then the employees can apply online for the loan from Oct 1.
At present, the government employees are eligible to take home loans with 10 percent interest rate. In most cases, they fail to own a home with the amount of the loan they are eligible to receive in line with their pay scale.
In June, Finance Minister AMA Muhith announced a plan to make a guideline on home loans for the government employees with a provision to enable the young employees to own a home or an apartment.
Following the announcement, the finance ministry issued a notification on ‘home loan for government employees through the banking system policy 2018’ on Jul 30.
Government employees will be eligible to apply for the home loans after five years on the job and the age limit to apply for the loan will be 56 years, according to the policy.
The home loan ranging from Tk 2 million to Tk 7.5 million should be repaid within 20 years. The banks will charge 10 percent interest but the applicant will have to pay 5 percent interest and the government will subsidise the rest.
Only permanent employees of the government, not the employees of state-owned companies and autonomous bodies, will be eligible for the loans, according to the policy.
At present, there are around two million government employees.
