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Belarusbank said to have provided nearly $1.9 billion last year in low-interest loans for housing construction

Belarusbank provided about 3.4 trillion rubels ($1,188 million) in 2009 in low-interest loans for the construction of housing under the government's program, according to the bank's press office.

The loans were used to build almost three million square meters of housing and improve the housing conditions of more than 30,000 households, the press office said.

A total of 8.9 trillion rubels was owed under the program as of 1 January, 2010, 62 percent more than a year earlier.

As many as 15.5 million square meters of housing has been built with Belarusbank's low-interest loans since the program's launch, with nearly 225,000 households obtaining news apartments and houses.

A system of construction deposits that was introduced by Belarusbank in July 2006 as a way of solving citizens' housing problems has become quite successful, the press office said. It currently has 9,000 users, including 2,400 who have already applied for loans for the construction or purchase of housing.

Belarusbank's construction deposits amounted to 33 billion rubels as of January 1, and the debts for loans provided under the system totaled 65 billion rubels.

The bank's inspection measures prevented 38.2 billion rubels from being unlawfully provided to applicants for low-interest construction loans, the press office said.

A total of 12 billion rubels in low-interest consumer loans for the purchase of domestically produced goods had been provided by the bank as of January 1 under a program introduced in the middle of 2009, the press office said. //BelaPAN