Thirteen thousand Emirati families living in the Northern Emirates will be able to receive interest-free home loans under a new government plan, it was announced on Thursday.
A total of Dh11.5 billion ($3.1bn) will be given to select families in Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah in the first phase of the plan, which will take place between 2022 and 2026.
Emiratis must submit requests to the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure to obtain housing loans through the country’s Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme.
The project was announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, on May 9.
Having a home is a priority, it is not owning a fancy car and people need to get their priorities right
Suhail Al Mazrouei,
Minister of Energy and Infrastructure
To be eligible, the main earning member of the household should have a monthly income of at least Dh15,000. Those eligible can apply for a loan of up to Dh800,000 but the monthly loan instalment should not exceed 16 per cent of the applicant’s salary.
Several local banks will disburse the loans, though it is not currently known which are on the list.
Borrowers pay the principal loan amount of Dh10.4 billion but the government will cover the interest rate of Dh1.1bn.
They can also buy construction materials at discounted prices after the ministry reached an agreement with a number of suppliers. The list of these suppliers will be released at a later date.
“The revised policy will help to clear the backlog of applications from previous years,” said Suhail Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure.
“A smart system will analyse the data and assess the circumstances of applicants based on the information they provide about their financial, social and housing conditions.”
This data will help the ministry to prioritise urgent cases.
“Having a home is a priority, it is not owning a fancy car and people need to get their priorities right,” Mr Al Mazrouei said.
Ministry employees will visit the homes of senior citizens and disabled people who may face difficulty in submitting online requests.
“After the programme was approved by the UAE Cabinet, we met with the Ministry of Finance to identify sustainable financing options in co-operation with local banks,” Mr Al Mazrouei said.
“The new programme will focus on the Northern Emirates — Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah.”
He said local authorities in Abu Dhabi and Dubai will provide separate housing financing for their citizens.
Approved designs for Emirati homes — in pictures
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Five healthy carbs and how to eat them
Brown rice: consume an amount that fits in the palm of your hand
Non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli: consume raw or at low temperatures, and don’t reheat
Oatmeal: look out for pure whole oat grains or kernels, which are locally grown and packaged; avoid those that have travelled from afar
Fruit: a medium bowl a day and no more, and never fruit juices
Lentils and lentil pasta: soak these well and cook them at a low temperature; refrain from eating highly processed pasta variants
Courtesy Roma Megchiani, functional nutritionist at Dubai’s 77 Veggie Boutique
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
![The designs were released as part of the Bayti [my home] initiative, to simplify the process of buying and building homes for Emiratis. Illustration courtesy Abu Dhabi Housing Authority](https://www.thenationalnews.com/resizer/v2/KIDZWUZFROBPTBITX37JJICSFE.jpg?smart=true&auth=b3b026cad4afefce4f12b7d4dae849a8abe335245ad461c7a157d9053ecd740e&width=800&height=450)
