I was looking for information regarding the new subsidized housing loans that were announced a week ago and I found this great informative video by Jad Ghosn. To sum things up quickly, we got $165 million dollars in aid to the Iskan bank (Banque de l’habitat), that will be distributed as LBP loans (at the 3900 bank rate) to 2000 eligible candidates at most. The interest rate will be 4.5% over a 30 year period and the loan will be paid in LBP of course.

The loan amounts vary between 300 & 600 Million Liras, which translates to almost 75K “fresh” dollars, which is not enough to get you an apartment anywhere in Beirut or its suburbs. However, that’s not where the problem lies. These new housing loans will be distributed at a first come, first served basis which means that politicians will each get his share before anyone else.

In other words, don’t get your hopes high if you’re aiming to be one of those 2000 candidates.