Bank of Maldives (BML) has revised the terms of its housing loans, reducing the equity contribution to five percent for loans under MVR 3 million.
In addition to lowering the equity requirement to five percent for loans of MVR 3 million or less, the bank has also removed the requirement for additional collateral. Previously, borrowers were required to provide 20 percent of the loan value as equity.
The minimum amount available under the housing loan scheme is MVR 50,000, while the maximum limit has been set at MVR 45 million.
Furthermore, BML has reduced the interest rate to 9.5 percent for loans valued at MVR 3 million and below.
"We have worked to make housing finance more affordable. As such, we have reduced the personal equity or down payment requirement for housing loans from 20 percent to five percent. This provides relief from the burden of saving up large sums, which is often the biggest obstacle to homeownership," BML CEO Mohamed Shareef said.
The reduction in equity requirements by BML follows an announcement by President Mohamed Muizzu on Saturday, stating that the government intends to cover the equity portion of such loans.
