Abstract:

The goal of the article is to provide comparative analysis of the regulations that are aimed at imposing restrictions on interest rates, usually based on the so-called annual effective rate for consumer loan. The current regulatory solutions implemented in 11 central and eastern European countries are analysed. This analysis provides a valuable contribution to the development of knowledge in this area, especially as the only complex studies comparing regulatory practices in Europe were developed several years ago and because of the dynamics of regulatory changes these studies are no longer valid. It is demonstrated that most CEE states, impose restrictions on consumer credit interest rates (9 out of the 11). It is shown that many of these countries, directly or indirectly, limit the effective annual rate (EAR) (5 out of the 11 CEE countries do so directly, and 3 do so indirectly).