Housing Deficit: FMBN Needs N200bn Capital To Bridge Gap

In order to make meaningful impact in addressing the housing deficit in the country, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has urged the Federal Government to increase its capital base from the current N5 billion to N200 billion.

The bank presently has a share capital of N5 billion out of which the federal government has paid up its own share of N2.5 billion representing 50 per cent, while the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) have not paid up their 30 per cent and 20 per cent share respectively.

Managing Director of the Bank, Mr Gimba Ya’u Kumo who made the appeal in Abuja at a forum organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) said addressing the over 17 million housing deficit in the country would require aggressive injection of funds by the Federal Government.

Kumo said at present, the National Housing Fund (NHF) only has 3,772,031 contributors and it would require 50 contributors to contribute N500 monthly for 10 years before the bank would be able to provide a loan of N15 million for one individual.

Gimba, however, disclosed that so far, the bank has approved NHF loans of about N90 billion out of which only N39 billion or about 22 per cent has been disbursed. While it has also approved N110 billion Estate Development Loans (EDL) out of which only N62 billion or 52 per cent has been disbursed.

“The total disbursement we have made so far is N100.5 billion and we have been able to deliver 56,000 houses which is just a drop in the ocean when compared to the housing deficit we are confronted with.

“Since the NHF commenced, we have been able to collect a total of N106 billion and looking at our disbursements, we have disbursed more than that. This is because some of the funds we collected from contributors, we put them in investments” he said.

Source: Leadership