Expanding access to home finance Citizens Bank PLC.

Alamgir Hossain
Managing Director
Citizens Bank PLC.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

Citizens Bank seeks to make home financing more accessible through longer repayment tenors, applicable grace periods and structured repayment arrangements, subject to customer eligibility and risk assessment.

Citizens Bank employs a flexible, risk-based framework to assess borrowers’ repayment capacity through diverse, verifiable income sources beyond standard documentation. Backed by a dedicated internal legal team, this streamlined credit and property due-diligence process ensures fast, secure, and accessible home-finance solutions.

The Daily Star (TDS): What are the primary bottlenecks preventing willing buyers from accessing formal home finance?

Alamgir Hossain (AH): Access to formal home finance in Bangladesh is primarily hindered by rising land and construction costs, high interest rates, and steep down-payment demands that outpace household income growth. Additionally, many self-employed and informal-income borrowers lack formal documentation, making credit assessment difficult for lenders. These financial barriers are further compounded by severe property and regulatory risks including deviations from approved building plans, flawed land titles, and missing regulatory approvals (such as DAP) in peri-urban areas which create significant legal and valuation challenges for financial institutions.

TDS:  What key home-finance products or packages does your bank currently offer to make home loans more accessible and affordable?

AH: Citizens Bank PLC offers two key housing finance solutions. Citizens Abason provides financing up to Tk. 4 crore in accordance with Regulation 23 as the Bank’s classified loan ratio in housing finance is below 5%. The product offers a maximum tenor of 25 years and supports both flat purchases and residential construction, with applicable grace periods. The Bank also offers Citizens Nagarik Ashrayan, which is designed particularly for lower-income customers, wage earners and lower income segment people. It provides financing ranging from Tk. 5 lakh to Tk. 50 lakh with a tenor of up to seven years for the construction or renovation of semi-pucca homes.

TDS: What flexible repayment structures or Shariah-compliant options do you provide to lower the entry barrier for borrowers?

AH:  The Bank also offers home loan takeover facilities for eligible customers who wish to transfer their existing housing loans from other financial institutions. In addition, customers seeking Shariah-compliant financing can access Islamic banking-based housing finance solutions complying Shariah principles and eligibility criteria.

TDS:  What policy-level support is needed to expand home-finance access in Bangladesh?

AH: Access to formal home finance in Bangladesh is primarily hindered by rising land and construction costs, high interest rates, and steep down-payment demands that outpace household income growth.