Licenced moneylenders

There are a few letters in the Straits Times Forum about the high interest rate charged by licenced money lenders. The writers argued that the public needs to be protected against these unconscionable interest rate, that the free market does not work and desperate borrowers will accept the money on any terms. One writer is the president of Credit Counselling of Singapore, a non-profit body that helps borrowers to manage their debt.

This is another example of the failure of the market to give fair treatment of consumers. There are countless other examples. I hope that the Government realise this weakness and start to regulate the market more actively.

Tan Kin Lian

Links to the letters in the Straits Times Forum
http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_513364.html
http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_513366.html