In line with the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and instructions of General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the Abu Dhabi Executive Council has approved issuance of a new package of housing loans to 1,496 nationals beneficiaries at a total value of Dhs2,992 million.The loans will be provided through the Private Housing Loan Authority - Abu Dhabi.The directives come as part of the leadership’s keenness to provide decent and stable living standards to the citizens.The Executive Council has instructed Abu Dhabi Finance Department to transfer the loan amounts to the respective banks, in order to inform beneficiaries of the new package of loans to serve their choice of building or renovating their houses.Around 805 beneficiaries in Abu Dhabi will get housing loans totaling 1.6 billion, while a total amount of Dhs788 million will be issued in loans to 394 beneficiaries in Al Ain. Some 297 citizens in the Western Region will receive housing loans of Dhs594 million in total.The step is part of the housing loans scheme announced by the Executive Council last June, which allocated Dhs7 billion towards housing loans for nationals.In 2008, Sheikh Khalifa issued, in his capacity as Ruler of Abu Dhabi, law No. 9 for 2008 on restructuring the private housing loans for citizens in the Emirate.Article 17 of the law raised the interest-free housing loan’s borrowing limit Dhs1.2 million to 2 million, to be repaid in 30 years.The beneficiary gets an exemption equal to 22 per cent of the total loan amount when the house construction is completed. From / Gulf Today