Most often, consumer loans are issued to cover unforeseen expenses, and for some older Latvians, payments for medications and treatment are such unbearable costs, representatives of PNB banka informed.
Consumer loans for medicines and treatment are common among older Latvians, said the head of PNB banka (formerly Norvik banka) branches in Kurzeme, Agnese Chernevska.
According to her, treatment services for retirees often fall on their heads.
Credit in such conditions becomes a solution.
Most often, consumer loans are made out to cover unexpected expenses, but there are also customers who borrow money to pay for their studies and renovate their homes.
On the eve of holidays, a part of clients draws up a loan in order to organize a celebration.
In terms of assets, PNB Banka ranked sixth in Latvia in the middle of the current year. The name was changed in November of this year.
Sometimes people just don’t buy medicine at all…
The country is actively discussing the need to revise the pricing policy for drugs.
As the head of the Latvian Society of Doctors said, medicines are so expensive that patients simply do not buy them.
Pharmacy owners call for a reduction in the VAT rate on drugs to at least five percent, and the Association of International Innovative Pharmaceutical Firms believes that drugs greatly increase the cost of wholesale and retail trade mark-ups. According to their information, Latvia has the most expensive medicines in comparison with two other Baltic countries.
