No room to raise NHT loan ceiling
Published:Wednesday | April 30, 2014 | 12:00 AM
THE DECISION by the Government last year to raid the National Housing Trust (NHT), requiring it to provide $45.6 billion over four years to assist the country's economic recovery effort, is the chief reason loan ceilings have not been increased.
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, in a marathon contribution to the 2014-2015 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday, said that despite the Trust having an asset base of $205 billion, beneficiaries will not be able to benefit from more than $4.5 million towards the purchase of their homes.
"When the Government of Jamaica signed off on the agreement with the IMF (International Monetary Fund), one of the conditionalities was for the country to reduce its national debt. In its time of need, the country turned to the NHT," the prime minister said.
The NHT is paying $11.4 billion per year, over four years, due to the agreement.
"Jamaica is in a better place today because of the role played by the National Housing Trust," the prime minister said.
Opposition Spokesman on Finance Audley Shaw had called for the Government to raise the borrowing amount under the NHT.
Shaw argued that it was now time for the Trust to lift the ceiling on the amount of money loaned to depositors to purchase their homes.
"The present limit of $4.5 million, I believe, in the circumstances, should be lifted to at least $6 million, which would also make $12 million available for joint-purchase mortgages," Shaw said.
BREAKING WITH TRADITION
But yesterday, Simpson Miller diverted from what has become a custom for prime ministers to use the Budget Debate to announce greater benefits for NHT contributors.
She, however, said the NHT would be using $280 million of its surplus, normally used for grants and subsidies, to improve infirmaries; assist with the provision of shelter for street persons; help with the maintenance of indigent housing; and provide help to the families of members of the security forces who have lost their lives or suffered major injuries in the line of duty.
The prime minister also said the First Step Programme, under which workers in the sugar and tourism sectors benefited last year, would continue. She also said the Trust would commence preliminary works for Majesty Gardens Phase II, Frog City, and Maxfield Avenue under the Inner-City Housing Project.