Pag-IBIG home loan releases increased over the last two months bringing total releases to over P20.80 billion in the first half of the year.
Pag-IBIG said home loan releases increased to P1.2 billion in May and jumped even further to P2.9 billion in June after the quarantines were lifted.
Pag-IBIG Fund started the year on a high note with home loan releases reaching P5.5 billion in January, then rising further to P6.5 billion in February, exceeding the amount released for the same months last year by 17 percent.
With such accomplishments in the first two months of 2020, Pag-IBIG was on track to release P100 billion in home loans by the end of the year.
But with the rise of the new coronavirus disease 2019 infection in March and the implementation of strict quarantine measures imposed in Metro Manila and other parts of the country for national safety, home loan releases dipped to P3.8 billion in March and P.88 billion in April.
Officials said Pag-IBIG continues to introduce enhancements to the agency’s loan programs while making services more accessible to members amid the pandemic.
“With our recent offering of promo rates on our housing loan, we expect even more members to secure their own homes in the coming months. This also plays a major part in our country’s road to recovery because as more members secure homes, the more jobs it would generate for our fellow Filipinos,” said Secretary Eduardo D. del Rosario, who heads the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees.
Out of the total P20.8 billion released, 91 percent or P18.94 billion were socialized and low-cost home loans for the benefit of 20,084 Pag-IBIG Fund members, including minimum-wage and low-income sectors.
Acmad Rizaldy Moti, Pag-IBIG Fund chief executive officer, expressed confidence the agency is on its way to recovery based on the improvement in the numbers in the past two months.
“Since 2016, we have broken our record for home loan releases each year. For Pag-IBIG, 2020 will be a story of strength, resiliency and service to members as we tackle the challenges of the ‘better normal,” he said.
