The National Union of Bank Employees’ (Nube) plan to provide mortgages with zero interest rates to its members belonging to low- and middle-income groups, reported Bernama.
Nube should do this as its corporate social responsibility, according to Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations’ (Fomca) Deputy President Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman, who also voiced his support for the move.
Aside from easing the burden of their personnel as housing loan instalments form a huge chunk of their monthly expenses, this employee-benefit package would also help financial institutions (FIs) as it would encourage their workers to work even harder.
He said this in response to Nube’s proposal that was recently submitted to the Association of Banks in Malaysia via the Malayan Commercial Bank Association.
The group also hopes that banks would provide a 100 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for properties priced from RM300,000 to RM500,000, as well as shoulder the charges related to mortgage applications, including the legal fees.
In addition, Mohd Yusof urges private sector employers to offer a similar perk for their workers.
“If they cannot provide interest-free housing loans, they should at least subsidise them as the government is doing for its 1.6 million employees,” he said, noting public servants pay an interest rate of only four percent for their mortgages.
Furthermore, Nube’s proposal is also backed by the Malaysian Trades Union Congress, which represents more than 500,000 employees in the private and public sector.
Image: Sourced from Free Malaysia Today
Mangalesri Chandrasekaran, Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email mangales@propertyguru.com.my
