FMBN National Housing Funds Disbursements increased After 3years by N112bn

The Managing Director/Chief Executive, FMBN, Ahmed Dangiwa in his speech made the disclosure at the 2020 Housing Summit held in Abuja, today 11th November 2020.

In his statement, The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has increased the National Housing Funds disbursements by N112billion in three years which represents a 74 percent increase in addition to the N152.5bn recorded in 2017, making a cumulative sum of N265bn.

The MD said that the 36 States of the Federation are compliant regarding workers’ contributions with five States resuming contributions within the past three years.

In addition, he said that about 8,700 new homes were built within the last three years making a total of 29,133 funded housing units.

Also Read: BUA Cement donates Two patrol vans and Six Transformers to host community.

He further added that within the last three years, NHF collections increased by N186bn representing 80 percent to attain a cumulative amount of N418bn as of September 2020 and about 570,000 contributors have been added to attain a contributor base of over 5.1 million NHF subscribers.

He lamented that their non-compliance and negligence have denied the housing finance sector very important investments that could have added many more values to housing delivery, job creation, and economic growth of the Sector.

He noted in his statement that while neither ignorance nor excuses are acceptable for flouting the law, reasons given for noncompliance include the loss of business opportunities of investing in the NHF as opposed to other more lucrative use of resources, the risk of loss of funds due to business risks and uncertainties associated with real estate investments, uncertainty on the duration of such investments, and the prescribed rates of return not being economical or profitable, among others.

In absolute acknowledgment of obstacles identified by banks and insurance companies, he added that the bank would advocate new NHF investment frameworks that address the concerns of these mandatory investors.

He added, “In summary, the frameworks propose that banks and insurance companies contribute five percent of their Profit-After-Tax as mandatory investments into the National Housing Fund as opposed to portions of their loan portfolios of life/non-life funds.”

In another development, Dangiwa disclosed plans to seek a review of the NHF Act to ensure mandatory and adequate investments by banks and insurance companies.