RIGA, June 14 (Xinhua) -- New legislative proposals that have been put before the Latvian parliament would oblige all loan providers -- including credit institutions and nonbank lenders -- to check their clients' loan-worthiness more thoroughly to make sure they can pay off their loans, local media reported Thursday.
According to a statement to the media issued by Latvia's ruling center-right Unity party, the amendments to the Credit Institutions Law and the Consumer Rights Protection Law would restrict reckless lending.
All the information necessary to determine each client's loan-worthiness, like the source and size of income, outstanding debts and payment discipline, would be available at Kreditinformacijas Birojs, a company of Creditinfo Group.
The new regulation would also oblige credit institutions and nonbank lenders to provide the necessary data to Kreditinformacijas Birojs.
According to information provided by the Latvian consumer rights authority, all inspections that were carried out in 2017 revealed various violations on the part of loan providers.
In a number of cases, loans had been provided to borrowers who could not afford them and some loans had been granted based on the borrowers' undeclared income, representatives of the Consumer Rights Protection Center said.
The opposition Latvian Association of Regions has also submitted draft amendments that would put caps on the interest charged on consumer loans.
These amendments to the Consumer Rights Protection Law are intended to ensure a more responsible provision of payday loans, which are seen as a factor fueling Latvia's shadow economy, as many debt-ridden employees would rather receive their wages under the table than turn them over to debt collectors.
