The new subsidized housing loans concern only dwellings of less than 120 m2 located outside cities. (Credit: Mark Mansour)
BEIRUT — Chairman and general manager of the state-owned Housing Bank Antoine Habib announced in a statement Tuesday that the bank will extend the deadline for submitting applications for housing and solar panel loans until the end of September, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Here’s what we know:
• The loan program, which will fund real estate, home restoration and solar panel installations, was relaunched on June 20 after a three-year halt.
• Habib had said that there are a few sources financing the loan: “an internal source, from our own money, from loans that [the Housing Bank] obtain[ed] from Banque du Liban or some Lebanese and Arab banks.” He added that the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development is one of the most important foreign funds financing the loan project as it is offering “50 million Kuwaiti dinars, equivalent to $165 million.”
• Habib added in his Tuesday statement that there is a possibility to “modify the loan amount in the event that [Lebanon] receives additional loans from Arab funds.”
• Habib also said that “seven commercial banks have resumed granting housing and energy loans,” adding that “housing loan applications are in the thousands,” in addition to “unfinished applications” affected by the state employees’ strike.
• According to the NNA, Habib stressed that the loans will be strictly in Lebanese lira and will never be disbursed in dollars, noting that the Arab Fund’s loan will be transferred to the central bank in Kuwaiti dinars and then converted to Lebanese lira.
• Habib also revealed that the Housing Bank decided to give 30 percent of the housing and solar installation loans in cash.