March 13, 2012
Cuepecs
said it is “concerned” that the “high interest rate” would profit the
SPV set up by the government instead of helping poor homebuyers who are
also EPF members. — handsetformwork.com.my pic
KUALA
LUMPUR, March 13 — Putrajaya must lower the proposed 6.5 per cent
annual interest for homebuyers getting city flats under the new
Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) home loan scheme, says Cuepacs.
The
country’s umbrella group representing government servants said it is
“concerned” that the “high interest rate” would profit the special
purpose vehicle (SPV) set up by the government instead of helping poor
homebuyers who are also EPF members.
Cuepacs
president Datuk Omar Osman told The Malaysian Insider that “6.5 per
cent interest is too high. The purpose is not to make profits, it is to
help them purchase low-cost homes.”
“These
people are part of KWSP (EPF). The interest repayment rate should be
between 3.5 to four per cent at the most. We do not want them to suffer
having to repay such high rates.
“We
hope that the high interest rate is not for the SPV involved to make a
profit... we are concerned,” he added, referring to the special
purpose vehicle linked to the Federal Territories Foundation.
The
foundation’s scheme will be overseen by Federal Territories and Urban
Well-being Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin and the
firm will act as the middleman to grant home loans to potential home
buyers. The EPF has been promised an annual return of 5.5 per cent for
the money loaned to the scheme.
The
federal opposition has, however, accused Barisan Nasional (BN) of
abusing monies from the pension fund to hide its current debt levels
under the guise of offering a purportedly “noble” housing loan to
lower-income earners.
The foundation’s scheme will be overseen by Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister Raja Nong Chik. — file pic
Civil servants and private sector unions have said they were not consulted over the plan to utilise EPF funds.
Raja Nong Chik has declined to comment on the scheme or why federal funds could not be used for the project.
The
EPF clarified last month it is in talks with a government agency to
provide loans to city renters to buy homes but that the deal has not
been inked.
It
also said that the terms involve lending an initial sum of RM300
million to the federal government through the special purpose vehicle.
Another
Putrajaya home ownership scheme for low-income earners has come to a
grinding halt just a year after it was launched as banks are unwilling
to risk loans with monthly repayments worth more than half the
applicant’s salary.
The
My First Home scheme launched by Datuk Seri Najib Razak in March 2011
offers 100 per cent financing to those aged below 35 and earning less
than RM3,000 per month to purchase homes worth up to RM400,000.
But
Chinese-language daily Sin Chew Daily reported earlier this month that
a 30-year-loan for RM400,000 with a 4.3 per cent interest rate would
require a monthly repayment of RM1,780.
Property
prices in urban areas, such as Penang and Kuala Lumpur, rose by up to
40 per cent in 2010, fuelled by low interest rates and a surge in
speculative buying, although prices slowed last year due to dampened
sentiment from tightening measures such as a hike in the real property
gains tax for early disposals.
Some
reports have also estimated that property prices jumped from 5.9 times
income in 1989 to 10.9 times in 2010. The Demographia International
Housing Affordability Survey rates markets whose property prices are
5.1 times median income or more as “severely unaffordable”.
The
HBA last year warned that an entire generation of young adults are at
risk of being locked out of the property market due to runaway house
prices.
Pesan EPZ : Sumber http://cuepacs.blogspot.com/2012/03/cuepacs-wants-lower-interest-for.html
