Over 49,000 Loans Via Sakani in Six Months

Real Estate Development Fund (REDF)
Real Estate Development Fund (REDF)
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Over 49,000 Loans Via Sakani in Six Months

Real Estate Development Fund (REDF)
Real Estate Development Fund (REDF)

The Saudi Real Estate Development Fund (REDF) revealed that the total number of mortgage loans announced by Sakani Program during the past six months reached 49,800 backed by the fund in partnership with banks and financial institutions. These loans represent 39 percent of total housing and funding options announced by Sakani program on a monthly basis – in addition to loans, they include prefabricated units, under construction units and free lands.

REDF added that this number of mortgage loans is half Sakani's target in its second phase of 2018 -- the target total of loans until December is 100,000 for those on the waiting list at Real Estate Development Fund. It added that during the past year it announced 85,000 mortgage loans distributed around the kingdom.

Within the program, Riyadh has the greatest percentage of mortgage loans, reaching around 28 percent, followed by Makkah, with 16 percent. The remaining percentage was distributed over the other regions.

REDF spokesman Hamoud Al-Osaimi said the fund, in partnership with financial institutions, continues to provide services to beneficiaries whose names were announced during recent batches of Sakani.

Thousands of citizens have completed their applications and been approved for mortgage loans, he added, stressing the fund’s aim to help citizens get housing that suits them.

The ministry and the fund urged citizens to visit the sakani.housing.sa portal for a list of people allocated housing this month, and to visit the portal eskan.gov.sa and the REDF portal redf.gov.sa to complete the necessary procedures, update data and approve products.



Iran's Currency Falls to Record Low against the Dollar as Tensions Run High

A man counts Iranian rials at a currency exchange shop in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters file photo)
A man counts Iranian rials at a currency exchange shop in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters file photo)
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Iran's Currency Falls to Record Low against the Dollar as Tensions Run High

A man counts Iranian rials at a currency exchange shop in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters file photo)
A man counts Iranian rials at a currency exchange shop in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters file photo)

Iran’s rial currency traded Saturday at a record low against the US dollar as the country returned to work after a long holiday.

The rial had plunged to over 1 million rials during the Persian New Year, Nowruz, as currency shops closed and only informal trading took place on the streets, creating additional pressure on the market, Reuters reported.

But as traders resumed work Saturday, the rate fell even further to 1,043,000 to the dollar, signaling the new low appeared here to stay.

On Ferdowsi Street in Iran’s capital, Tehran, the heart of the country’s money exchanges, some traders even switched off their electronic signs showing the going rate as uncertainty loomed over how much further the rial could drop.