Salary via EFT mandatory for overseas govt staff seeking home loans

To avail subsidy on home loans, it is mandatory for government staff working in the country’s missions abroad to receive their salaries through electronic fund transfer (EFT) from now on.

“The missions’ officials and employees seeking government’s subsidy on home loans will have to apply to receive salary into their bank accounts through the EFT system to the concerned chief accounts and finance officers (CAAFOs) of the foreign ministry,” the finance ministry said in a notice on Thursday.

The subsidy seekers will have to open bank accounts to get the salary through EFT to the bank under which the loan will be sanctioned, it said.

The officials and employees who are availing subsidy on home loan through the banking system or those who will seek subsidy on home loans in future will receive salaries and allowances directly in their bank accounts through the EFT via the foreign ministry, it added.

They will have to apply for claiming subsidy on home loans to the concerned cell of the finance division, said the notice.

In case of officials or employees who have already taken home loans and have been transferred abroad, the concerned CAAFO will issue pay slips of other benefits except salary. However, in this case, they will not be able to receive the basic salary from the mission abroad.

All the officials and employees who have taken home loans will have to submit their salaries through an online integrated budget and accounting system to the respective missions, and later the expenditure officers of the missions will forward it to the concerned CAAFO offices.

Under the Home Construction Loan Policy-2018 for government employees, loans up to a maximum of Tk75 lakh are provided by banks at a 5% simple interest rate.

The employees will be eligible for the home loan from five years after the job becomes permanent, said the finance division in a notice issued on July 30, 2018.

The loan limit has been fixed at Tk20-75 lakh. The maximum time to repay the loan will be 20 years. The bank will charge simple interest at the rate of 9% for the loan. Of the interest, the home loan taker will pay 5% and the rest will be paid by the government as a subsidy.