Pakistan’s top builders ready for projects of Rs1.3 trillion

Pakistan’s National Coordination Committee on Housing, Construction and Development has turned out to be a morale booster for the builders and developers who are completely satisfied with the support being provided by the present government towards resolving their issues and providing them a conducive environment for undertaking greater activity in the construction sector.

With enhanced satisfaction level, 13 leading builders of the country assure the prime minister of launching various projects during next 4-5 months that will generate an economic activity up to Rs1.3 trillion and addition of 100,000 housing units.

For the first time, not only the processes of seeking No Objection Certificates (NOCs) are being streamlined and duration is reduced but also the private banks are also encouraging builders and developers to avail credit portfolio reserved for construction, house building and development activities, stated the representatives of Association of Builders And Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) during the meeting.

The assurance was made during weekly meeting of National Coordination Committee on Housing, Construction and Development with Prime Minister Imran Khan in chair.

Besides all Chief Secretaries of the provinces in attendance, leading builders and developers from Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore were also present during the meeting representing Association of Builders and Developers of the country. ABAD is a national level representative organisation of builders and developers to unify and streamline the construction activities of private sector.

The Prime Minister appreciated Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for his proactive role in encouraging private banks to extend much-needed support to the construction sector.

The builders and developers present during the meeting assured the Prime Minister that the present system will help expeditious resolution of their issues and pending approvals enabling them to undertake projects worth billions of rupees. In addition to the pledges made by the 13 builders who were present during the meeting, other commitments by builders and developers of ABAD will also follow soon.

The Prime Minister while expressing satisfaction over the confidence of the builders community reiterated the commitment of the government to provide every possible facilitation in the construction sector. He observed that big cities serve as engine of growth and offer huge opportunities to the builders and developers. Increased construction activities will help wealth and job creation which will enable to country to gain economic stability and reduce its debt burden.

The Prime Minister said that construction sector and promotion of small and medium industry was among the foremost priorities of the government and the government will extend every possible support to these sectors.

On the issues related to provision of utilities for the new projects, the Prime Minister assured expeditious processing of the applications and directed the concerned to take strict action against officials involved in creating hurdles in provision of basic amenities such as electricity and gas etc.

The Prime Minister also stated that online application, tracking and monitoring system being introduced and one-window facilitation centres will further improve ease of doing business in the construction sector.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr.Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) Wednesday at the Prime Minister office.

ECC decided to allocate 150,000 metric tons of wheat to the Pakistan Army from PASSCO resources on payment basis for the year 2020-2021.

ECC also approved the prices of tobacco recommended by the Price and Grade Revision Committee in pursuance of section 8(1) of the PTB Ordinance 1968.  ECC also directed that the MNFSR shall also give a detailed presentation on the mechanism of determination of prices and will also point out the gaps in the system.

ECC also approved “Mark up subsidy for Housing Finance”, proposed by Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority. Prime minister has on July 10, 2020 announced special incentives for housing and contruction sector to revive economic development amid COVID-19 pandemic. Markup subsidy shall be provided for 10 years on bank financing. Accordingly, end user markup rate on housing units measuring up to five marla will be five per cent for first five years and seven per cent for next five years. For housing units measuring 10 marla, end user markup rate will be seven per cent for first five years and nine per cent for next five years.

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