Geneva, Switzerland (20 Minutes, Fre) – The number of debts sent for collection increased 13 percent in the first three months of 2009 in Geneva, Olivier Chollet of the Geneva Collections Bureau told 20 Minutes. People are under more pressure to keep up with their bills, the newspaper quotes Pierre-François Unger, the canton’s Economy and Health Department minister, as saying.

The numbers hit a new record with 65,682 cases compared to 58,187 in 2008. The number of new debtors in the middle and upper classes greatly increased which does not bode well for the rest of the year, says Chollet. Repeat offenders count for a large percentage of the people, but statistically, if every debt under collection belonged to a separate individual, 73 percent of Geneva’s adult population would currently be dealing with the collections office.

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