Turkey will set up a mortgage financing company to be called Birlesik Ipotek Finansmani AS, Bloomberg News reported.

Similar to Fannie Mae in the U.S., the new company will issue mortgage-backed securities in an effort to help citizens with lower incomes buy houses, according to the Dec. 25 report.

The Turkish Treasury will provide 500,000 Turkish lira as founding capital and will own a 5% stake in the company. Birlesik Ipotek Finansmani will have an initial capital of 10 million lira, the report said, citing a presidential decree published by the country's official gazette. The other owners of the company were not disclosed, Bloomberg noted.

According to official data, mortgage loans account for approximately 7.5% of total loans in Turkey's banking sector, while the share of mortgages in total home sales is approximately 35%, Bloomberg said.