National Pension subscribers may get housing loans at affordable rates

To provide housing finance options to National Pension System (NPS) subscribers, the pension fund regulator has set up a committee to look into the proposal, a senior executive announced. “We are looking at possibility of extending housing loans at affordable terms to NPS subscribers. This will be a win-win for all stakeholders and a big support to the NPS members, apart from giving a fillip to the government’s vision of housing for all. We have set up a committee to study the proposal,” Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) whole-time member for finance, RV Verma said. The two most important retirement assets are pensions and housing and there is a strong synergy between the two, he said.
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The committee will be headed by former MD and CEO of HDFC Life, Deepak M Satwalekar. The panel has been given six weeks to submit its report. The first meeting was held on November 19, 2016 and the second one is slated for the second week of December, he said.
The committee will examine the desirability/need for offering/facilitating funding for home ownership for the subscribers of the NPS, including direct lending, with special reference to government employees. The panel will also examine in details the pros and cons of such scheme and implications for the NPS, with particular reference to the impact on pension wealth and the retirement pension amount.
Verma said that the committee will have Sanjaya Gupta, MD and CEO of PNB Housing Finance; Baij Nath, head of retail housing loans and real estate at State Bank of India and Mukul Asher of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore, as other members.
By: Housing.com/news