NMB Bank to boost mortgage loans
Chief Executive Officer of NMB Bank Plc., Ruth Zaipuna.
What you need to know:
- The lender, which has extended a total of Sh33.64 billion in mortgages during the past seven years, said here yesterday that it was ready to support government’s efforts in fulfilling Tanzanians’ homeownership ambitions.
Dodoma. NMB Bank Plc took its mortgaging products to players in the real estate industry yesterday in an effort to play an increasingly important role in helping Tanzania to reduce the deficit of decent housing, currently estimated at 200,000 units per year.
The lender, which has extended a total of Sh33.64 billion in mortgages during the past seven years, said here yesterday that it was ready to support government’s efforts in fulfilling Tanzanians’ homeownership ambitions.
“NMB has a special programme to support housing improvement through affordable and fast home loans,” the bank’s head of personal banking Ms Aikansia Muro told participants to a workshop on better housing which it [NMB] organized for stakeholders in the construction industry value chain.
Ms Muro said mortgages extended by NMB Bank range between Sh10 million and Sh700 million.
A mortgage market update report which was published last week by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) and Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company Limited shows that NMB Bank held the fourth slot in a market where 33 lenders had – until March 31, 2022 - extended a combined Sh503.74 billion in mortgage loans during the past seven years.
According to Ms Muro, NMB Bank was giving its clients four options to finance their housing needs.
These include loans for house purchasing; construction mortgage; a loan to complete house construction and using a house as collateral for securing a loan.
During the past years, interest rates on mortgages have also gone down to between 14 and 16 percent compared to 17 percent.
“The bank has also lowered the salary threshold for eligible borrowers to Sh300,000 from Sh700,000,” said Ms Muro.
Gracing the event, the Chief Government Valuer, Ms Evelyne Mugasha, said by organising the housing day and workshop, NMB had shown its commitment to support the government’s endeavour to improving supply of decent houses, saying available studies show that the country had an annual deficit of 200,000 units.
The NMB Central Zone Manager, Nsolo Mlozi, said they have been engaging housing stakeholders to share notes on the best ways to address sectoral challenges, including the issue of affordable mortgages.
