Putrajaya’s offer of 10% loan to 20,000 house buyers will be of no help if they are unable to secure bank loans for the remaining 90%, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said today.
"So it does not make sense for the government to make such an offer when the 10% itself depends on whether the people can get bank loans first.
"This is a real issue. Even in Umno itself, there are many who are angry because it is difficult to get loans... this is 'indah khabar dari rupa' (nice from afar but far from nice)," he told reporters at an event in Prai.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said when tabling Budget 2015 yesterday that the government would provide a 10% loan guarantee to enable borrowers to obtain full financing, including cost of insurance.
The offer is given on a first come, first served basis for 20,000 units under the Youth Housing Scheme.
Lim said Bank Negara should look into simplifying the procedures and conditions for housing loan applicants, especially those who want to buy affordable homes.
He also proposed that the developer interest-bearing scheme (DIBS) be revived for the interest for first-time house buyers.
Under the scheme, the developer pays the interest payments for the buyers’ loans during construction of a project.
Normally, when the DIBS package is offered, the buyer only pays the down payment and associated legal fees, and nothing else until the project is completed.
In tabling Budget 2014 last year, Najib announced the removal of DIBS as one of the cooling measures for the property market.
However, in August, Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan reportedly said the government was open to bringing back DIBS for residential projects if there were signs the removal of the scheme had had a negative impact.
Lim said it was fortunate that diesel, RON 95 petrol and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) would be exempted from the 6% goods and services tax (GST) next April.
"But if petrol prices keep going up, there will be no difference," he said.
Asked what the Penang government thought of Budget 2015, Lim who is chief minister said: "I have got nothing to say because Penang got nothing."
He added that even the Electric Train Service (ETS) for the Ipoh-Butterworth route that would start operating in April next year "was an old thing".
"Other places are getting clinics and so on, but Penang is not getting anything."
Lim also said the “People's Budget 2015” appeared to be more like a “crony's budget”.
"Ini berjiwa rakyat... tengok-tengok balik lebih bersifat kroni (It is supposedly people-centric but after looking at it, it is more for cronies)."
- TMI
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