Kazakh Senator Gennadiy Shipovskih has proposed banning microloans for young adults under age 21. He outlined the idea on a Dec. 4 parliamentary inquiry addressed to Madina Abylkassymova, head of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM).
Concerns about youth debt and easy access to loans
Shipovskih said that during meetings with the public and from monitoring social media, lawmakers have seen a growing number of young people facing blocked bank accounts and rising debts.
«This situation is driven by the excessively easy and fast process for obtaining loans, aggressive advertising from microfinance organizations targeting young people, and low levels of financial literacy,» the senator said.
Call for stricter controls and higher age limits
He added that the ARDFM should take urgent action. In his view, authorities need to halt the practice of issuing online and offline microloans to people starting at age 18 without additional checks or consideration of credit history.
«The minimum age for taking out a loan should be raised to 21, along with a strengthened verification process that evaluates income, expenses, stable earnings and financial behavior,» Shipovskih said.
