Fashion
Vietnamese lender SeABank is getting a $100-million investment from IFC to provide lower and middle-income families with access to housing loans.
The investment increases International Finance Corporation’s investment in the bank to nearly $400 million.
SeABank Vice Chairwoman Le Thu Thuy was quoted in an an IFC press release on Monday as saying that while the current demand for housing from lower and middle-income families is considerably high, their access to finance remains limited,
Through the new investment, SeABank expects to double the number of housing loans to lower and middle income families by 2026. In addition, the project is expected to create thousands of new jobs in construction and related sectors.
With a rapid annual urbanization rate of 3%, half of Vietnamese population, some 50 million people, is expected to be living in urban areas by 2040, creating the need for an estimated 374,000 additional housing units every year, said IFC, a member of the World Bank Group.
