KARACHI: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Wednesday unveiled a five-year strategic plan for the insurance industry with a target to increase the number of insured people to 15 million and total premium to Rs1.3 trillion by 2028.
Pakistan has 42 operational insurance companies with a total premium of about Rs552 billion and 10 million active policies. Out of 30 million registered vehicles in Pakistan, barely three percent are insured, while less than 8 million people have life insurance. Crop insurance is used by less than 10 percent of 8 million farmers, and less than 500,000 of 32 million registered properties are insured.
“SECP in consultation with the industry has prepared a five-year strategic plan which focuses on five key areas,” SECP Chairman Akif Saeed told Arab News on the sidelines of the International InsureImpact Conference 2023 during which the new policy was launched in Karachi.
The areas of focus relate to ease of doing business, legal amendments, taxation, digital aspects and micro- and climate risks.
Saeed said under the new plan the country was targeting increasing the premium of insurance companies along with enhancing insurance coverage to about 15 million people in the country. It would also be targeting an increase in the number of people insured from roughly about 8 million to 15 million by the end of the five-year plan.
“I count on SCCP’s five-year strategic plan to set the tone for the future policy, legal and regulatory landscape,” Federal Minister for Finance Dr. Shamshad Akhtar said while addressing the conference, adding that the country’s insurance sector needed a dedicated hub for consolidation of policy, legal, and regulatory frameworks.
“You need a dedicated hub for the insurance sector because it is a different business,” Akhtar said, adding that Pakistan’s insurance penetration rate was below 1 percent, which placed the country among the lowest in the region.
Countries like India and Sri Lanka have a penetration ratio of 3.76 percent and 1.25 percent respectively, the finance minister said.
