Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) Board chairman Raymonde Dill said Thursday night he was optimistic international businesses would support a bond scheme to raise $32 million to build 100 affordable houses.

BHC is considering issuing bonds, which it wants international businesses to buy, with a pay-back rate of four percent rather than the market rate of eight percent.

Mr. Dill, Housing Minister Nelson Bascome and Premier Jennifer Smith have lobbied companies on an individual and group basis to assess support for the scheme in the past few weeks.

Mr. Dill said some companies had expressed an interest in the scheme or in helping in other ways. If international businesses agreed to buy the bonds at the low rate, it would save BHC around $1 million a year in interest payments.

BHC needs to build 100 new affordable houses and intends to renovate a further 50 older properties in the next 15 months.

It will decide at the end of next week, when it has finished meeting with companies, if there is enough support for the scheme or whether it will need to look to other ways of funding the building programme.

Mr. Dill also rejected claims by United Bermuda Party whip Cole Simons that Government was treating international business like a "cash cow''.

Mr. Dill said: "I am optimistic we will have some takers in a form not too dissimilar to the one we have put on the table.'' Mr. Simons earlier said: "I'm disturbed. This is another situation where Government sees international business as a cash cow.

"These companies are run based on profit in a competitive environment where expenses should be reasonable and should not be to cover social programmes.

"All this indirect taxation impacts on the bottom line and will increase the cost of doing business in Bermuda...''