More than half of economically-active residents have debt liabilities - Credit Information Bureau

RIGA - More than half of the economically-active residents of Latvia have debt liabilities, the Credit Information Bureau told LETA.

According to the Central Statistical Bureau's data, at the moment Latvia has 980,000 economically-active residents 15 to 74 years old, while the Credit Information Bureau's data state that 550,611 residents of Latvia have debt liabilities.

Over the past twelve months, the total number of loan agreements signed by private individuals has increased almost 10 percent. The Credit Information Bureau's archive contains information on 899,000 effective loan agreements, and the bureau's data suggest that 290,000 private individuals have late monthly payments on some of their liabilities, including utility payments.

"This means that practically every second resident of Latvia has debt liabilities," said the Credit Information Bureau's Commercial Director Intas Mikelsons.

According to the Credit Information Bureau's data, 73,000 residents are late with their monthly payments to licensed creditors, while 128,000 have late payments to companies and entities that are not licensed lenders.

"The most typical question we hear from residents several times a day is, 'Who do I owe money to?'," said Mikelsons. That demonstrates the current situation on the market, when lenders turn down loan applications as the applicants have debts - while these persons do not even know who they owe their money to, and for what, he explained.