ISLAMABAD, March 15: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has presented a detailed business plan for Pakistan's House Building Finance Corporation (HBFC) enabling the company to provide housing finance to some of the country's poorest people.

The IFC business plan aims to help the HBFC to grow and be sustainable in an increasingly competitive housing finance market. It provides an in-depth analysis of the Pakistani housing finance market and presents a future outlook for HBFC.

It also indicates the company's tremendous potential to act as a catalyst for expansion of the country's housing finance sector, says an IFC press release here on Thursday.While there is a great demand for housing finance, the HBFC is targeting low-income clients, a segment of Pakistan's market that is under-served by commercial banks.

To that end, the IFC business plan suggests that the HBFC transition from a government directed programme to a proactive, independent, and self-sustained commercial mortgage lender. This will help it to develop its business volumes and attract market funding at viable rates, while allowing it to reach out to the low-income market.

The business plan concludes that commercialisation of the HBFC, stakeholders’ support in the short-term, and effective implementation of the proposed strategies can combine to create a viable company.

With a healthy balance sheet, improved operational efficiency, and a proven loan distribution network, the HBFC would become a very attractive target for investment.

“Resolve of the present management and support of the government are necessary to transform the HBFC into a premier housing finance institution that caters to the low and middle-income segments of Pakistan's population.

The challenge is to maintain a balance between social obligation and commercial viability,” said Zaigham Rizvi, chairman and managing director of HBFC.

Syed Farhan Fasihuddin, IFC's program manager for Housing Finance in the Middle East and North Africa said, “Effective and quick implementation of the proposed business and operational strategies is a pre-requisite for turning the HBFC into a viable institution and making it attractive for private investment.

By providing greater access to housing to a broad spectrum of the population, HBFC could make a huge developmental impact in Pakistan.”

The IFC advisory services facility for the Middle East and North Africa is managing this project, which resulted from an agreement sealed at the ministry of finance in the presence of Dr. Salman Shah, adviser to the prime minister.

The HBFC is a state-owned housing finance entity that has been operating in Pakistan since 1952. It provides financing for construction, restoration, and purchase of houses to the low-to-middle income market segment. —APP