Mortgage Finance Fund’s (MFF) board of directors have signed a cooperation protocol with the finance ministry to raise the value of mortgages provided to low-income citizens by an additional EGP 40 bn, bringing the total funding to up to EGP 60 bn, Invest-Gate reports.

This will cover the remaining beneficiaries of 300,000 low-paid citizens. The move comes in line with the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) initiative that aims to tackle the country’s affordable housing shortage, Mai Abdel Hamid, CEO of MFF and executive director of Social Housing Fund, said in a ministerial statement on March 27.

The announcement came during a meeting headed by Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities Assem El Gazzar, where she noted that the fund is committed to supporting the rate of return on long-term mortgage finance. Abdel Hamid added that this is deemed useful to the low-paid segment and helps ensure the progression of the CBE’s initiative and its subsequent amendments.

The official also highlighted that different types of mortgage contracts for units funded by the Social Housing Fund and MFF were explicated during the meeting. She said they are authorized by the Financial Regulatory Authority and are signed by three parties, namely the fund, mortgage entity, and investor.

The draft budget of the MFFfor the forthcoming FY 2019/20 has been also presented at the meeting.

Meanwhile, the fund’s board of directors also approved to allocate 500 housing units in the state’s social housing project, offered at EGP 184,000 per unit, excluding EGP 9,200 required as a deposit for maintenance.

Launched in 2014 with an initial EGP 10 bn disbursement, the CBE initiative endeavors to contain the country’s affordable housing shortage. Following the first phase, the bank has brought the initiative’s total financing to EGP 20 bn, after bringing in an additional EGP 10 bn.