Over 200k people benefited from housing financing program, ministry

Over 200,000 people from underprivileged social classes had access to housing thanks to the government funding program, known by its French acronym FOGARIM, a press release of the Housing Ministry said on Tuesday.

    Some 40,000 housing loans were granted up to July, i.e. a 15% increase compared to the same period in 2007, the press release added.

   FOGARIM was created in 2005 as part of the government's bid to ease access to descent housing to individuals with low or irregular income.

    This low-cost housing has provided up to 350,000 housing units for about two million inhabitants, Housing Minister, Ahmed Taoufiq Hejira, has revealed recently.

    He said sixty cities across Morocco have benefited from the program, also known as social housing, and that the tax cuts decided in 2002 were intended to speed up the production pace and provide affordable social housing.

    The move has allowed a number of medium salary-earners to buy an apartment, since 70% of buyers earn a monthly salary of about USD 450, he said.

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