Reinsure with NITF - Chairman
Save vast amounts of foreign exchange:
Indunil HEWAGE
The primary insurance companies in Sri Lanka inject a lot of money
annually to various foreign reinsurance companies. The National
Insurance Trust Fund (NITF), the sole local institution for reinsurance
in the country emphasizes the importance of curtailing the vast sum of
money that is paid to foreign reinsurance companies.
|
Senaka D Abeygoonasekera |
“It is vital to strengthen the country’s own reinsurer than
fortifying other reinsurers of various countries,” NITF Chairman Senaka
D Abeygoonasekera said.
The NITF , which comes under the preview of Finance and Planning
Ministry managed to generate Rs 2.7 billion profit during the year 2010,
this profit has been generated through premium of institutions collected
from insuring properties in Government and semi Government institutions
under the fire, burglary and other various insurance policy schemes.
The premiums collected from the various insurance schemes have been
invested in treasury bills and treasury bonds and in various national
projects. NITF also contributed Rs 2 billion to the Consolidated Fund of
the National budget in 2010.
The NITF looks after 1.3 million Government servants by providing
healthcare benefits.
In addition migrant workers have also been insured by this
institution. There is a high potential in health insurance sector in the
country with the increase in aging population in the country. NITF has
introduced the Agrahara insurance scheme to provide medical facility for
Government servants in the country. The Government has also allocated Rs
1 billion for NITF to build hospital wards around the country.
“Accordingly, parallel to Deyata Kirula exhibition NITF has renovated
the Dambagalla rural hospital in Moneragala spending Rs 5 million. We
expect 1050 hospitals in the country by 2016 and 50 percent of these
hospitals will have Agrahara wards,” Abeygoonasekera said.
Identifying the potential in the fishery sector in the country, NITF
will introduce a new policy for fishing boats in the country named
“Yaathra” shortly. During the Deyata Kirula exhibition NITF offered an
insurance policy worth of Rs 500 million. |
