Banks Obliged to Increase Lending to Housing Sector

Parliamentarians have obliged banks and credit institutions to allot a minimum 40% of their lending facilities to the housing sector in each fiscal year. 
The mandate applies to all commercial banks while specialized banks, except Bank Maskan — the main lender in charge of financing the housing sector, are exempted, IRNA reported. 
As per the plan, the total sum allocated to the housing sector must not be less than 1,600 trillion rials ($6.6 billion) in the first year of implementation, which should increase in the succeeding years based on the annual inflation rate.