Pag-IBIG Fund home loan releases fall short of target

CEBU, Philippines – Housing loans released last year by state-run Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund to its Cebu hub amounted to P2.99 billion, short of its target for the year.

Official data provided by Rio Teves, business development manager for Pag-IBIG Visayas, showed the P2.99-billion loan funded a total of 3,224 units out of the 5,783 units it targeted to finance.

Pag-IBIG also targeted to release P3.56 billion in housing loans in 2015.

Cebu hub covers Cebu’s north and south areas and Tacloban City. Pag-IBIG reached an accomplishment rate of 84 percent and 56 percent in terms of loans and units, respectively, released to Cebu hub.

In an interview, Teves explained the failure to reach the targets were due to some factors.

Teves cited there was low loan take-out in Tacloban under the Fund’s Home Rehabilitation Loan Program.

Factors affecting the low take-out, Teves said, include land titling problems, high cost of land and the lack of socialized housing developers in Tacloban.

The data indicated that out of P1.23 billion allocated for the program, loan take-outs only reached P210.95 million.

2016 Target

This year Pag-IBIG targets loan take-out to reach P5.82 billion to fund the building of more than 8,000 housing units in the Visayas.

In 2014 Pag-IBIG released housing loans worth P2.56 billion to Cebu hub, exceeding its target. That amount financed a total of 2,874 units.

Teves also noted that Pag-IBIG will likely keep its 6.5 percent interest rate under a three-year fixed pricing scheme for housing loan this year.

This rate was implemented since June last year. (FREEMAN)