The insurance sector in Bangladesh has the potential for rapid expansion and growth because of a number of favourable factors, including government support, according to the CEO of Zenith Islami Life Insurance Mr SM Nuruzzaman.
Most of the general insurers in Bangladesh posted lower profits for 2022 due to lower premium income from marine insurance business.
Bangladesh suffers from huge underinsurance in both the life and non-life sectors, with a protection gap that is more than seven times the country's gross domestic product (GDP), according to a study conducted by the Bangladesh Insurance Sector Development Project of Bangladesh, funded by the World Bank.
The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) plans to issue regulations, that among other things, would require non-life insurance companies to maintain a reserve of between 40% and 100% as a solvency margin, depending on the risks they cover.
The Bangladeshi government is likely to make insurance mandatory for all types of vehicles, including motorcycles, cars and buses.
About a dozen local privately held insurance companies out of a total 46 have been unable to pay reinsurance premiums worth over $100m to foreign reinsurers due to a lack of foreign currencies.
The country's insurance sector is undertaking a digital transformation, with the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) planning to bring all private companies under one umbrella through automation or InsurTech.
The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) has indicated that insurers will have to use new mortality and morbidity tables next year.
The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) in Bangladesh is working with the government to identify and resolve problems in the insurance sector, the chairman of the regulatory agency, Mr Mohammad Jainul Bari, has said.
A comparison of the health impacts of climate change across countries points to a future that intensifies current inequalities: among G20 countries - which account for the majority of cumulative CO2 emissions -- a third will experience additional death rates because of climate change.