Bank Mellat comes to be the first Iranian bank – after Bank Maskan which has been specialized in providing mortgage loans – to allocate a special fund for such a purpose.
The Central Bank of Iran has recently mandated all 22 commercial banks to provide mortgage loans to 300,000 applicants through the country every year. Each loan was set to be worth 500 million rials ($14,700 at market exchange rate) in big cities.
According to Urban Development and Revitalization Organization, Bank Mellat which was obliged to provide 5 percent of the overall number of home loans, is the first bank which has officially passed on the message to all its branches, Donya-e Eqtesad reported.
President Hassan Rouhani has constantly underlined the urgent need for renovation of dilapidated urban structures and called on the ministry of roads and urban development to cooperate with the private sector in a bid to provide citizens with standard housing units. Recently the deputy minister of roads, Mohammad Izadi, has stated that a new scheme to grant 500-million-rial housing loans is soon to start.
By the call for the creation of a ‘mortgage fund’ in each commercial bank, the central bank and the administration seek to help shore up the housing industry, which is already in recession.
