PAG-IBIG PUSHES OFWs MAXIMUM HOUSING LOAN FROM P500,000 TO P2 MILLION

The Home Development Mortgage Fund (HDMF) or Pag-IBIG will aggressively promote its overseas housing loan program for the benefit of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), Pag-IBIG Fund President Ramon Palma-Gil said as he announced an increase in the maximum loan open to OFWs from P500,000 to P2 million.

He said he expects developer partners to welcome the marketing tie-up planned by HDMF with developers on the selling of housing inventories abroad.  Under the scheme, Palma-Gil said, Pag-IBIG's overseas office will do the brokering and marketing on behalf of accredited developers.  Hand in hand with the scheme is the tapping of foreign funding for the overseas housing loan programs.

Initially, Pag-IBIG Fund is tapping a P300 million loan for end-user financing for overseas members who will buy their housing units from accredited developers.  Guidelines for these schemes are still being finalized to meet the special demands of Pag-IBIG members abroad.  At the same time, Pag-IBIG Fund is taking measures to sustain the viability of the HDMF.

Early this year, Pag-IBIG had tapped the capital market with the auction of its P4 billion housing bonds.  Palma-Gil said he hopes that bond flotation will become a regular activity to generate more funds for housing purposes, depending upon the re-settling of economic indicators such as interest rates.

The HDMF is also tapping foreign and domestic loans to augment the funding for housing loan programs, particularly the middle income housing loan program, which will provide a maximum loan amount of P2 million.  Palma-Gil said Pag-IBIG is also taking steps towards the utilization of the P14 billion multi-purpose loan portfolio in the housing loan program, while tapping other financial institutions as sources of funding for Pag-IBIG's short-term multi-purpose loans.  Thus, Palma-Gil said, there will be a proper matching of fund sources with fund usage.