Location: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Language: Mongolian
Duration: 00:04:57
Source: A24 subscribers
Restrictions: A24 clients
Dateline: 01/03/2022
Storyline
The increasing number of pawnshops across Mongolia bears witness to the deteriorating living conditions that everyday Mongolians have to grapple with. L. Amgalan, who is a specialist at the Authority for Fair Competition and Consumer Protection (AFCCP), unveiled shocking figures of mortgage companies in Ulaanbaatar. He said there are an estimated 997 pawnshops in the capital, adding that the AFCCP carried out an inspection of 16 pawnshops in 2021, only two of which proved that they complied with the regulations set during the COVID-19 pandemic that states the interest rate should be at three percent, as the rest set high-interest rates. B. Temuulen, who was a victim of pawnshops, said the big number of pawnshops in Mongolia amazes him. He explained that relying on borrowing and dealing with pawnshops will have a bad impact on people, as it would turn them into lazy people.
ShotLists
(Soundbite) L. Amgalan, a specialist at the Authority for Fair Competition and Consumer Protection (AFCCP):
“In 2021, the [the Authority for Fair Competition and Consumer Protection] AFCCP inspected mortgage lending services. According to statistics, there are 997 mortgage lending companies in the capital city. A total of 16 businesses and mortgage lenders were inspected. Two of them enforced the law during the COVID-19 pandemic and kept their interest at three percent. The remaining 14 or 87.5 percent did not comply with the law or set high-interest rates.”
(Soundbite) B. Battumur, a pawnshop owner:
“It is said that there are many mortgage lending services, and they are operating in large numbers and growing like mushrooms after the rain. There is a demand in the market. Because there is a need among people and citizens. It is increasing and expanding accordingly. As it expands, it regulates interest rates and maturities through market rules and business competition. Financial business is not well-known in any country in the world. Money exchange offices and swindlers have a bad reputation. Items must be regulated by market rules.”
(Soundbite) B. Temuulen, a citizen:
“There are many pawnshops in Mongolia. When I went abroad, I never saw a pawnshop. It’s bad to have a lot of pawnshops. People will be lazy. They lose their valuables to the pawnshop at a very low price. I lost stuff myself, too. So I think it is not a good idea to have a lot of pawnshops.”
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