Loan limit under DRI scheme for weak sections up

New Delhi, Feb 28: To strengthen the government's efforts towards providing cheaper credit to weaker sections of society, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, in his Budget proposals for the year 2007-08, has proposed to raise the limit of loans under the Differential Rate of Interest (DRI) Scheme from Rs. 6,500 to Rs.15,000 and the limit of housing loan from Rs 5,000 to Rs.20,000 per beneficiary.

The DRI scheme provides finance at a rate of 4 per cent to the weaker sections of the community engaged in gainful occupations.

Under a new initiative, the National Housing Bank (NHB) will shortly introduce 'reverse mortgage' under which a senior citizen who is owner of the house can avail a monthly stream of income against mortgage of his/her house, while remaining the owner and occupying the house throughout his/her life time, without repayment or servicing of the loan.

UNI