The Ministry of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development has announced that financing has so far been disbursed to 244 people under the Hiyaavehi financing programme for house construction.
Speaking on PSM’s Raajje Miadhu programme, State Minister at the Housing Ministry, Ahmed Nazim Mohamed said 891 people had been selected in the first phase of the Hiyaavehi scheme to receive financial assistance.
Of these, financing loans have already been disbursed to 244 people, while the ministry is completing the final stages required to release funds to the remaining 629 eligible applicants, Nazim said.
“We are working to disburse the funds to the remaining 629 people selected for the programme within the coming month. Our aim is to complete the disbursement of funds to all 891 people selected for the scheme before the end of the year,” State Minister Nazim said.
Nazim said the main reason for delays was the lengthy procedures required to complete the financing process.
“Under the existing regulations, 20 per cent of the cost of constructing a house can be allocated for commercial works. We also found that some applicants had requested amounts exceeding this limit, or that the BOQ value of their house exceeded the loan amount being provided. As a result, a significant amount of work had to be carried out between the applicants, banks and the ministry to resolve these issues,” the State Minister said.
Financing is provided under three categories. Applicants under the Fahi Male’ scheme can receive between USD 389,104 and USD 648,508, while those under the Saharu scheme can receive USD 194,553, and applicants under the Rahvehi scheme can receive USD 64,851.
The government has allocated USD 129.70 million annually for the Hiyaavehi programme. Of this, USD 64.85 million will be provided by the government, while the remaining funding will be provided by banks.
The programme is a Sharia-compliant financing scheme offered at a 5 per cent profit rate, with recipients given a repayment period of up to 25 years, according to the ministry.