Pawnshop sees brisk business

Pawnshop sees brisk business

LARANTUKA, East Nusa Tenggara: As a result of the economic
crisis sweeping across the country, the state-owned pawnshop PT
Pegadaian here has seen extremely brisk business with people
lining up in search of credit.

The Rp 2.8 billion in credit allocated for this year has
already been surpassed. In the first five months of this year
alone, Rp 2.9 million has been given out.

The head of the pawnshop, Junaidi, confirmed yesterday that
the pawnshop was experiencing long lines of people bringing
various goods for collateral.

He said as many as 600 ebony tusks and several kilograms of
gold had been stored at the pawnshop's warehouse. (yac)