Studies in Ancient Hindu Polity (Based on the Arthashastra of Kautilya), Vol. I c14.s3.12

c14.s3.12

Laws restricting the maximum rate of interest are found in many countries both of ancient and mediæval times. In Greece, “the Seisachthira of Solon (B.C. 594), according to some ancient writers, included a reduction of the rate of interest, stated by Plutarch to have been about 16 p.c. per annum. In the opinion of Grote, however, no restriction was put by it upon interest. At Coreysa, in the second and third centuries B.C., loans on good security commanded 24 p.c., while the common rate at Athens in the time of the Orators was 12 to 18 p.c. . . . Such high rates were exceedingly oppressive to agriculturists, whose fortunes are always precarious” (Palgrave’s Dict. of Pol. Ec.).