By Alastair McIndoe, Philippines Correspondent

MANILA: The Agencia de Empenos de Makati in Manila's financial district is not a typical iron-grilled pawnshop reeking of financial desperation.

Inside, it looks like a private art gallery. Paintings by famous Filipino artists hang from the walls. There is a small glass-panelled cabinet of expensive Swiss watches in their cases. Customers wait on sofas while their goods are being valued.

Owner Michael Dizon, 40, says business has risen sharply over the past three months - a trend that so far reflects the extremely tight lending policies of jittery local banks, rather than the direct fallout of the global economic meltdown.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.