Banque de l’habitat (مصرف الإسكان) is expected to finally start giving out loans to eligible candidates this month. This is what Antoine Habib, the bank’s general manager, has confirmed a couple of weeks ago. The announcement is not on the bank’s official website unfortunately because the website is down for maintenance.
In regards to requirements, anyone who wishes to obtain a house loan, as an individual or couple:
– must be Lebanese.
– must have a monthly income ranging between $1,000 and $2,500
– must not have benefited from any housing loan previously,
– and must not own a house in Lebanon
As far as the loan amounts are, they range between $40,000 can reach a maximum amount of $50,000, which is clearly not enough to buy anything in Lebanon nowadays.
That being said, who is expected to benefit from these loans then? And how will they validate the income of those applying? As we all know now, several employers are paying fresh dollars without declaring them on the income statement. Will those be accounted for?