LAHORE - State Bank of Pakistan on Thursday organised an awareness session on “SBP Concessionary Finance and Markup Subsidy Schemes” at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. SBP Chief Manager Javaid Iqbal Marath and LCCI Senior Vice President Nasir Hameed Khan jointly chaired the session that was attended by Regional Sales Manager Home Finance of Faysal Bank Syed Mazhar Arslan and Regional Sales Manager Home Finance of JS Bank Khawaja Noman Ahmed and experts from different sectors of economy. The SBP officials threw light on various aspects of the Concessionary Finance and Markup Subsidy Schemes saying that in line with its vision of providing affordable housing to the masses, government has announced Markup Subsidy Facility for the construction and purchase of new houses. They said that this facility allows all individuals, desirous of constructing or buying a new house for the first time, to avail bank’s financing at subsidized and affordable markup rates. They said that SBP is executing partner with government and Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority. The markup subsidy facility is available through all banks and is divided in three tiers. Through a detailed presentation, SBP officials and other speakers highlighted the key features of the government’s markup subsidy schemes including eligibility criteria, size of housing unit, maximum price of housing unit, maximum loan size, loan tenure, security requirements. Nasir Hameed Khan appreciated SBP for launching ‘Government Markup Subsidy Scheme on Housing Finance’ in order to support the general public in availing housing finance. He said that as per government’s estimation, Pakistan is currently facing an overall housing shortage of 11-12 million housing units. The urban housing shortage is estimated to be around 4 million. Since Punjab houses 53% population of the country, the housing needs in Punjab are way more than the other provinces.