KARACHI: Six leading Pakistani banks have signed a Master Credit Guarantee agreement with the Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company (PMRC) for risk coverage on financing for low-income housing, with the 10-year credit guarantee scheme providing coverage of up to 40% on a first-loss basis.
To support financing, the government of Pakistan has set up a Credit Guarantee Trust, managed by PMRC, with the support of the central bank and funded by the World Bank.
“SBP in coordination with the ministry of finance and World Bank undertook these strategic initiative of providing liquidity in the form of PMRC to provide liquidity to primary mortgage lenders and enabling them to prudently manage and match maturity profile of assets and liability”, Jamil Ahmed, deputy governor of the central bank, said while speaking at the signing event held in Karachi on Monday. “It would also help developing hybrid mortgage models and develop capital markets in Pakistan.”
The banks that signed the agreement included Faysal Bank, a subsidiary of Bahrain based Ithmaar Bank; Meezan Bank, a subsidiary of Kuwaiti Noor Financial Investment; BankIslami, a joint venture of the Dubai based Randeree family, Dubai Bank and Jahangir Siddiqui & Company; Habib Bank, JS Bank and Soneri Bank.
Pakistan currently has an overall housing backlog of 10-12 million housing units, with the gap continuing to increase by roughly 350,000 units per year, World Bank and Pakistan’s official data shows.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had promised to fill the housing demand gap by building five million houses under his government’s flagship Naya Pakistan Housing Program (NPHP). Officials at the newly created Naya Pakistan Housing & Development Authority (NAPHDA) say construction will commence from January 2021.
Mortgage to GDP ratio in Pakistan is less than one percent, one of the lowest in the region.
“This is a major step for the Naya Pakistan Housing Program to make affordable housing possible for all,” PMRC CEO Mudassir H. Khan said at Monday’s event. “PMRC is the first institution to introduce an Islamic refinance product which is a first of its kind not just in Pakistan but across the North African and South Asian region.”
Syed Amir Ali, President and CEO of Bankislami, said the risk coverage would assist BankIslami and PMRC in providing affordable housing finance to fresh homeowners in Pakistan and help the bank alleviate credit risk, while ensuring affordable mortgage facilities for low-income segments of the population.
“Now with PMRC on board, we can work together to promote Islamic housing finance to all demographics,” Ali said. “The agreement will cover the Naya Pakistan Housing Program projects and it will also be applicable on private projects and single houses.”
Six leading Pakistani banks to get 40% risk coverage on low-cost housing finance
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Six leading Pakistani banks to get 40% risk coverage on low-cost housing finance
- Pakistani PM has vowed to fill housing gap by building five million houses under flagship Naya Pakistan Housing Program
- Pakistan currently has overall housing backlog of 10-12 million housing units, with gap continuing to increase by roughly 350,000 units per year
Pakistan says responding to Afghan ‘offensive operations’ after border fire as tensions escalate
- Afghan Taliban spokesperson says “large-scale offensive operations” launched against Pakistani military bases
- Pakistan says Afghan forces opened “unprovoked” fire across multiple sectors along shared border
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said on Thursday they had launched “large-scale offensive operations” against Pakistani military bases and installations, prompting Pakistan to say its forces were responding to what it described as unprovoked fire along the shared border.
The escalation follows Islamabad’s weekend airstrikes targeting what it said were Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh militant camps inside Afghanistan in response to a wave of recent bombings and attacks in Pakistan. Islamabad said the strikes killed over 100 militants, while Kabul said dozens of civilians were killed and condemned the attacks as a violation of its sovereignty.
In a post on social media platform X, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan had launched “large-scale offensive operations” in response to repeated violations by the Pakistani military.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said Afghan forces had initiated hostilities along multiple points of the frontier.
“Afghan Taliban regime unprovoked action along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border given an immediate, and effective response,” the ministry said in a statement.
The statement said Pakistani forces were targeting Taliban positions in the Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors, claiming heavy Afghan casualties and the destruction of multiple posts and equipment. It added that Pakistan would take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial integrity and the security of its citizens.
Separately, security officials said Pakistani forces had carried out counterattacks in several border sectors.
“Pakistan’s security forces are giving a befitting reply to the unprovoked Afghan aggression with full force,” a security official said, declining to be named.
“The Pakistani security forces’ counter-attack destroyed Taliban’s hideouts and the Khawarij fled,” they added, referring to TTP militants.
The claims from both sides could not be independently verified.
Cross-border violence has intensified in recent weeks, with Pakistan blaming a surge in suicide bombings and militant attacks on militants it says are based in Afghanistan. Kabul denies providing safe havens to anti-Pakistan militant groups.
The clashes mark the third major escalation between the neighbors in less than a year. Similar Pakistani strikes last year triggered weeklong clashes before Qatar, Türkiye and other regional actors mediated a ceasefire in October.
The 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) frontier, a key trade and transit corridor linking Pakistan to landlocked Afghanistan and onward to Central Asia, has faced repeated closures amid tensions, disrupting commerce and humanitarian movement. Trade between the two nations has remained closed since October 2025.
