The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) has allocated an amount of EGP 700 million, for the purchasing of 8,600 apartments within the Central Bank’s mortgage finance initiative, to provide housing for low and medium-income citizens, Head of Retail Banking and SMEs Hazem Hegazy told Al Ahram.

NBE had launched the mortgage financing program to enable low and medium-income citizens to purchase residential units in new urban communities and low income housing projects, for a low interest rate, and to be paid installments up to 20 years. The bank’s financing program targets low-income citizens with a return rate of 5 or 7%, medium-income rate with a rate of 8% and the ones with above-average incomes with a return rate of 10.5%.

The programme provides financing to individual employees, business owners, and self-employed to purchase housing units, Al Mal reported.