In its effort to bridge housing deficit, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria is seeking $1.6 billion (N500 billion) recapitilisation fund for optimal performance.
Mr. Umar Dankane, Executive Director, Business Development and Portfolio Management of the Bank said on Wednesday in Calabar at the bank’s Southern Zonal Retreat.
The theme of the retreat is “Motivating the Informal Sector to Embrace the National Housing Fund Scheme“.
He explained that for the mortgage market to excel and also meet the target of providing housing for many Nigerians, there was an urgent need for the Federal Government to recapitalise the bank.
“The crucial challenge facing the Federal Mortgage Bank in Nigeria is its capital base. The bank is yearning for government’s rescue as it was initially set up with a capital base of $16.7 million (N5 billion).
The bank, he said, was now famous as secondary mortgage market and could no longer hold from the realities on ground.
“So you can imagine the famous Secondary Mortgage Market still relying on N5 billion capital base.
“We have to review the situation and called on the government that the bank needs to be recapitalized. I strongly believe that if this is done, the mortgage market will really excel in Nigeria and the sky will be the limit,’’ he said.
The bank would provide affordable houses for workers and enhance access to such facilities if properly funded.
He explained that the bank was working to reduce housing deficit by ensuring improvement in Nigeria’s housing stock.
Our check shows that every federal government worker is compulsorily an enrollee with the Bank.
They pay a certain percentage of their salary monthly on hold with the bank, on the platform of National Housing Fund (NHF), thus qualifying the worker to access the bank’s housing loan facility.
MM/GIK/APA