THE State Bank and Pakistan Banks Association have claimed that the housing and construction loans portfolio of banks has grown by Rs54bn to Rs202bn from July to March compared to a stagnant position in the same period last year. “Such growth in housing and construction finance in such a period has never been witnessed in the country’s history,” the joint statement reads. It says that bank financing for housing and construction is likely to increase significantly as mortgage finance activity under the Mera Pakistan, Mera Ghar scheme picks up. SBP data on house-building loans paints a different picture though. It shows the stock of housing finance to citizens has risen by just Rs13.7bn to Rs93.5bn. If house-building advances to bank employees — the stock of which has grown by Rs25bn — is also considered, the total housing finance portfolio increases by Rs38.8bn to Rs228.3bn. Even construction loans to developers/builders for residential buildings have grown by merely Rs11bn.