Credit interest

Credit interest

Last year, I took home ownership credit with Bank Papan
Sejahtera. The bank, incorporated with the developer, gave me an
attractive low interest rate of 16 percent for the first year
with the condition that in the second year it would go up
according to the yearly interest rate.

I was shocked to receive an announcement of a 5 percent
increase in the interest rate for 1996, which brings my monthly
installment to US$125 a month, which is, of course, a heavy
burden.

I was even more shocked to learn that my friends, who took the
same type of loan with the same bank are still being charged the
same interest they have paid for several years, which is 18
percent. I would like a clear explanation from the bank to ensure
me that the "low" interest rate which I paid last year is real
and not something that I have to pay back for the next nine years
until my credit term has finished.

M. TJAHYADI

Jakarta