Housing Loans Division To Disburse RM6.8 Billion In Loans To Government Servants

Housing Loans Division To Disburse RM6.8 Billion In Loans To Government Servants

CYBERJAYA, March 9 (Bernama) -- The Housing Loans Division of the Treasury is expected to disburse around RM6.8 billion in loans to government servants this year.

"It is higher than last year's RM5.9 billion, on the back of an increase in the maximum housing loan size, recently announced by the government," Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussein told reporters here.

The government had revised the loan structure effective Jan 1, 2011 with a 15 per cent increase in the maximum loan amount to RM450,000 from RM360,000.

Since its inception the division has disbursed over RM76.2 billion in loans to 975,549 government servants.

Earlier Awang Adek launched the seventh Takaful panel member for the housing loan division, Prudential BSN Takaful Bhd (PruBSN).

PruBSN, a joint venture between Prudential plc and Bank Simpanan Nasional, will offer two products namely PruBSN Gadai Janji (mortgage scheme) and PruBSN Rumahku (housing loan) to 1.3 million government servants.

On the Takaful industry, Awang Adek said with the recent liberalisation of the sector and the issuance of four new family Takaful licenses, it would continue to grow robustly at around 20 per cent per annum over the next few years.

He said the main drivers for the growth were, among others, the low penetration of Takaful business with increasing incomes and awareness of the benefits of Takaful protection.

"Takaful business currently penetrates about 10 per cent of the total population. There is still a huge potential market to be tapped out there."

Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of PruBSN, Azim Mithani said with more people seeking to purchase their dream home there will be an increase in the demand for financial services that provide assistance to homebuyers.

Quoting the 2010 Property Market Status Report by the Property Valuation and Services Department of Malaysia, Azim said the sector recorded about 84.4 per cent or 10,413 new housing units sold within a six-month period.

"The sheer scale of this indicates the health of the loan market, the growing demand for Takaful protection products and underscores our belief in this being a new engine of growth for PruBSN."

To celebrate the official launch, Azim also announced an exclusive offer for government servants where PruBSN Gadai Janji certificate holders will enjoy five per cent rebate from their contribution (premium) amount if they sign up for the plan between April 1 and June 30 this year.

PruBSN now has over 300,000 customers, participating in a suite of products namely Takafulink, Takafulink Cerdik, PruBSN Crisis Cover, PruBSN Protect and Protect Plus, as well as the latest offering PruBSN Ummah.

-- BERNAMA