KARACHI, Aug 11: Sindh Finance Minister Syed Sardar Ahmed said on Wednesday that the provincial government would provide land to the government employees at concessional prices to build their houses.

He was speaking at the signing ceremony of housing finance for about one million Sindh government and local government employees being provided by National Bank of Pakistan.

He agreed that the cost of plots was very high and the government employees could not afford to buy such a costly land. "Therefore, we will provide land to the employees at lower prices for the construction of houses," he added.

Mr Ahmed lauded NBP for offering personal loans to permanent government employees, saying it had helped the Sindh government regarding loans facilities to its employees. President Musharraf has asked all the provinces to earmark 100 acres of land for low cost housing. The Punjab government has already allocated land for this purpose.

NBP president Syed Ali Raza pointed out that NBP was providing housing facilities to 40,000 employees of the Pakistan Postal Services. Of which, 200 employees had already owned their houses, while the remaining will get 200 housing units every month. -APP