BL Premium reports that the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has launched a market sounding exercise to banks and other financial institutions which might be interested in putting up packages to tackle challenges facing public servants in getting mortgages.
This is in fulfilment of a 2015 resolution that provided the framework for the establishment of the Government Employees Housing Scheme (GEHS). The PIC manages assets on behalf of public sector funds, which include the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). The objective of the GEHS is to assist state employees in accessing finance while receiving guidance on overall financial wellness, debt management and wealth creation; and facilitating access to affordable housing finance. The GEHS also aims to assist employees with options to rent houses with a view to buy. The PIC in calling for bidders to come to the fore said prospective financial institutions should be able to provide home loans to public servants at prime to prime-minus interest rates. The lenders will also be expected to provide state employees with home loans with a loan-to-value of 100%, with an option but “no obligation to put down deposits”. “The long-term goal [of the GEHS] is to ensure that every employee has access to home ownership. It is anticipated that resolving the home ownership challenges of employees will have a direct impact on improving their productivity at the workplace and will influence them in continuing to regard the government as the employer of choice,” the PIC said.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kabelo Khumalo at BusinessLive
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