Reform for the Sake of Reform. Who Needs It?! 0 7

As previously reported, the Ministry of Finance has conceived a reform that entails transferring the function of monitoring the non-bank sector from the Consumer Rights Protection Center to the Bank of Latvia, which oversees, among other things, commercial banks. Most experts have rated this reform extremely negatively, stating that it will not improve anything at all. This was pointed out by participants in the recent discussion aired on TV-24.

"Honor to honor: most organizations have given a negative assessment of this reform. Reform for the sake of reform will bring no benefit. Moreover, the Ministry of Finance does not mention in its report how this will improve the situation with lending in the country. We see that non-bank lenders are very active, especially in the regions, and we must support this policy. The report also fails to address who will protect consumer interests in this case. The Consumer Rights Protection Center is currently performing this function," said Jurģis Miezainis, parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Economy. He is in complete agreement with farmer and representative of the Green Party, Pēteris Dimants, who noted that the non-bank sector provides loans to entrepreneurs in cases where credit cannot be obtained from a bank. "Try getting a loan if a company has a negative balance from the previous year and has no collateral or guarantors!" stated P. Dimants.