THE VALUE of Nama-bound loans secured on assets in the North could be in the region of £3.35 billion (€4 billion).

Peter Stewart, Nama director and chairman of the agency’s advisory committee on Northern Ireland, said the final figure would not be confirmed until the loan acquisition phase was completed.

Mr Stewart said there had been “a mistaken perception” in the North that the agency was acquiring properties at a discounted price. Addressing the Northern Ireland Economic Conference outside Belfast yesterday, Mr Stewart said this was not the case. “We go through a full valuation process of these loans and the major factor included in this process is, of course, the value of the underlying security. The underlying securities are valued on a current market value basis as at November 30th, 2009, in accordance with guidance notes and standards issued by Nama.”

He said the valuations were verified by Nama’s valuers and there was also a review process.

“Current market values have been uplifted for long-term economic value and in general terms this has averaged approximately 10 per cent value uplift,” he added.

According to the agency director, the total number of loans to be acquired in the North is expected to total 14,000.

According to Mr Stewart the nominal value to date of the acquired loans secured on Northern Ireland-located assets is £300 million.

He said Nama did not yet have an accurate picture of either the total value or the detail of the Northern Ireland secured assets.

But its qualified estimate at the moment was that the final figure would be about £3.35 billion.