Cairo – Mubasher: A new $500 million funding package from the World Bank will finance existing low-income housing programmes by the Egyptian government, Egyptian Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities, Assem El-Gazzar, said in an official statement on Sunday.

The funding will raise the housing sector’s capacity while ensuring the design of customised programmes to cater to the needs of low-income families.

In addition, it will encourage more investments by the private sector in social housing projects, the minister added. 

Last Friday, the World Bank said that the new $500 million-funding will facilitate the process of obtaining housing units at subsidised prices and bolster the country’s Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund’s (SHMFF) ability in policymaking and programme coordination.   

In a similar context, the fund's CEO, Mai Abdel Hamid, revealed that more than 300,000 families across Egypt have benefited from the social housing programme since 2015. The new loan raises funds received by SHMFF to a total of $1.3 billion, she concluded.

Translated by: Amal A. Wahaab