The Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund said on Thursday it released a record high of P126.04 billion in home loans in 2023.
In a news release, Pag-IBIG Fund said the amount of home loans helped finance 96,848 housing units for its members last year.
Housing loans released in 2023 grew 7%, or P8.19 billion, from P117.85 billion in 2022.
“We are happy to report that Pag-IBIG Fund has posted the highest amount of home loans released during a single year in its 43-year history. This is very good news because as the amount of home loans we release increases, so does the number of Filipinos who now have homes of their own,” said Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, who heads the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and chairs the 11-member Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees.
Acuzar said of the nearly 100,000 housing units financed by the agency last year, 11,257, or 12%, were socialized housing units, which are now owned by members of the minimum-wage and low-income sectors.
Pag-IBIG Fund chief executive officer Marilene Acosta said that the agency has maintained its low interest rates despite the strong demand for the agency’s home loans and the prevailing high market rates.
“Our performance in 2023 is noteworthy because, apart from releasing the highest amount of housing loans in our history, it was also during last year—July, to be exact—that we further reduced our already low interest rates on our home loans to make them even more affordable,” Acosta said.
“We expect to maintain the affordability of our home loans, especially since we have more funds to address the increasing demand for home financing from our members with the implementation of our new monthly savings rates this February. We assure our members that they can continue to rely on us to provide them with the most affordable home loan in the market so that they too can achieve their dream of homeownership. That is our pledge as Lingkod Pag-IBIG,” she added.
Pag-IBIG Fund doubled the monthly contribution rate of its members starting this month.
Under Pag-IBIG Fund’s contribution policy, the monthly fund salary (MFS), which is the basis of the 2% contribution rate, was increased to a maximum of P10,000 from P5,000 a month.
This means the average premium of members was doubled to P200 from P100 for the employee, while the employer’s counterpart contribution for the member’s savings fund was also increased to P200 from P100.
Acosta earlier said the additional contribution would result in an additional collection of around P34 per year, which would translate into more housing units. (GMA Integrated News)
