GOVERNMENT-RUN Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund reported a double-digit growth in its housing loans in the first six months of the year, bringing it closer to its goal to hit its P65-billion loan takeout goal by yearend.

In a statement e-mailed to reporters on Tuesday, Pag-IBIG Fund said its housing loans grew 17% year-on-year to P28.8 billion in the January to June period, which translated to 36,139 Filipino families who have availed of the loan product.

“With our accomplishment in the first semester of 2017, I can confidently say that we are on track to reach our target by end of the year,” Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti was quoted saying in a statement.

According to Mr. Moti, the state-run fund aims to have a total takeout of 82,000 housing units before the close of the year, which translates to about P65 billion in housing loans.

This is 13% higher than the P57.31-billion housing loan takeout recorded in 2016, which covered 77,503 borrowers.

“Including the housing loan approvals, the number of units will increase to around 100,000 units with an approximate value of P80 billion,” Pag-IBIG Fund said.

Mr. Moti had said its market-competitive interest rates of 5.5% per annum for a one year repricing period would drive appetite for its members to avail of its housing loans.

To date, the agency has about 17.3 million members. — JMDS

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