BEIRUT, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's parliament approved Tuesday 100 billion Lebanese pounds (66 U.S. million dollars) to finance housing loans in Lebanon, local media reported.
"Housing loans will be financed this way for the time being until the government adopts a serious housing policy later on," said a statement published by Elnashra, an online independent newspaper.
This move comes following a push by political parties urging the government to find a solution to the housing crisis.
Lebanon's Public Corporation for Housing (PCH) announced on July 8 that no applications for housing loans will be accepted from July 9.
The Central Bank of Lebanon usually funds the housing loans through PCH. It provided commercial banks with a fund worth 500 million U.S. dollars in February, allocated for subsidized housing loans that would be used by Lebanese citizens to buy apartments.
The fund, however, was drained within a month.
The commercial banks therefore are offering housing loans with an interest rate of around six to seven percent compared to three percent for subsidized loans, making people hesitant to purchase at such high interest rates.
