Nearly a third of Pakistanis do not own their own homes and the money will help stimulate the mortgage market and extend housing finance to previously excluded groups.

Illango Patchamuthu, World Bank country director for Pakistan, said:  “The beneficiaries will include women and low-income groups through improved incentive for eco-friendly homes.”

Specifically, the project will extend financial and technical assistance to a number of institutions, including the Planning Commission and Pakistan Mortgage Refinancing Company, to help them increase the availability of mortgage financing.

“Pakistan’s mortgage finance to gross domestic product ratio of 0.25% is extremely low compared to the South Asia average of 3.4%,” said Korotoumou Ouattara, World Bank senior financial sector economist.

“There is a significant market gap across all segments of the population… The project will address the liquidity constraints of lenders, support capital market development, and create an enabling environment for a sound national housing policy.”

The project will also provide greater incentives for women to become home owners and encourage the building of energy-efficient and green homes and the adoption of climate and disaster-resilient construction designs and materials.