Insurance industry yet to mature: Muhith

Country's insurance industry is yet to get mature despite the business has been in practice in this land since 1938, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said Tuesday.
"Insurance industry is yet to mature," he told reporters at a programme at Bangladesh secretariat. He pointed out frequent allegations that the policyholders do not get claims from the insurance companies against the risks underwritten.
The minister was speaking at the function when state-owned Sadharan Bima Corporation (SBC) paid a dividend of Tk 400 million to the national exchequer as non-tax revenue for the year 2016. It paid Tk 300 million in 2015.
SBC chairman Prof. Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam and its managing director Syed Shahriyar Ahsan handed over the cheque to the minister. Muhith, however, said that there is little chance for the sector to become bankrupt as there is no such record in the past. However, he said the government would timely intervene if there is any possibility of such occurrence.
"The numbers of insurance firms are also high like the commercial banks," he said, adding that the number of bank and insurance is high as the people of the country run by rumour.
Currently, 77 life and non-life insurance firms are in the operation in the country.
He said the non-life insurance business will expand in the country keeping pace with the growth of the business activities.
The government has enacted a law for the insurance sector and the IDRA had been established to look into the industry. "We want development in the industry."
The dividend hand-over ceremony was also attended by SBC general manager Bibekananda Saha, and deputy general managers Md Jakir Hossain and Parvin Sultana.
The SBC, established in 1973, has been making profits since its inception. The SBC had a net profit worth Tk 2.85 billion in 2016. It settled insurance and reinsurance claims amounting to over Tk 2.0 billion in 2016. The SBC's paid-up capital is worth Tk 100 million with authorised capital of Tk 200 million.

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