Bulgaria to Tighten Regulatory Regime for Quick Loans

Bulgaria's government is preparing legal changes aimed at tightening control over financial institutions offering quick loans, according to Deputy Prime Minister Daniela Bobeva.

In an interview for Thursday's morning broadcast of private TV station TV7, she said the legal changes would make consumer loans of up to BGN 400 subject to a licensing regime instead of a registration regime.

Bobeva, as cited by mediapool.bg, argued that the problem was that interest rates on quick loans were several times higher than the ones on loans offered by banks.

Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister explained that loans of up to BGN 400 were subject to no regulations under the existing regime because the expenses on such loans made it unprofitable.

She added that the government was preparing amendments to the Consumer Protection Act under which quick loans would be subject to the common regulatory regime.

Bobeva informed that the set of legal changes also introduced a more stringent licensing regime for the registration of companies authorized to offer quick loans.

Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister specified that the amendments would require banks and non-banking institutions to conduct a rigorous assessment of consumers' creditworthiness.

She noted that a website would be launched soon offering information about the registration and licensing regimes which had been abolished, as well as the citizens' rights to exemptions and simplified procedures.

Asked to comment on the ongoing blockades at a number of university buildings staged by students seeking the resignation of the socialist-led government of Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, Bobeva suggested that she was ready to read a lecture in front of the students who had occupied the University of National and World Economy in Sofia.

She pointed out that young people had the right to state demands, adding that the government was striving to offer them good employment prospects in Bulgaria.

She emphasized the achievements of the government in the sphere of encouraging youth employment, adding that the efforts were expected to produce results.

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