Central Bank wants loan sharks detained

KIGALI - The Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), François Kanimba has warned loan sharks who operate outside the law to cease the illegal act or face police arrests. In an interview with The New Times, the governor said that increasing numbers of illegal money lenders, mainly in Kigali city, were drawing the public into risky ventures. The call comes amidst reports originating from the public that the loan sharks commonly known as “Banque Lambert” were imposing harsh lending conditions coupled with high interest rates. Most individuals who have fallen pray to these unscrupulous individuals say that they (loan sharks) charge interest rates which are as high as 30 percent per month. “This has a negative impact on the economy. Even the fraudulent activities evident in banks stem from these illegal practices,” Kanimba said. The governor also urged the public to cooperate in bringing to book such unscrupulous people. According to a banker, some people prefer loan sharks because legitimate financial institutes normally check the loan applicants credit history and evaluate their past repayment performance before they approve their loan application. “Genuine people don’t borrow money from the black market,” a banker who spoke on conditions of anonymity said, emphasising that people with bad credit scores hard to obtain loans from these illegitimate finance organisations. The New Times is also following a story on another a financial scam involving a scheme of people that use pyramid scores to settle gains. The said scheme of which The New Times has received preliminary information about is being operated by Questnet. Ends