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Macao's insurance market booms in 2004
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-03-19 10:13
Insurance business has become a new growth pole of Macao's economy, as the
city's total gross insurance premium income topped 1.89 billion patacas (US$236
million) in 2004.
The Macao Monetary Authority, which oversees the insurance supervision, said
on Friday that the insurance income registered a 19.4 percent annual growth rate
in 2004, as the performance of the sector was in line with the overall economic
take-off.
The bureau's figures showed that the non-life insurance achieved a 15.1
percent increase to 450 million patacas (US$56 million). While, driven by
investment-linked insurance products, total premium of life insurance reached
1.44 billion patacas (US$180 million), representing a yearly growth of 20.8
percent.
Anselmo Teng, president of the bureau, said that the private pension fund
scheme, which is an integral component of the social security system, is playing
an increasingly important role to maintain social security and enhance the
quality of life of local inhabitants. Assets under the fund management totaled
770 million patacas (US$96 million) in 2002, but climbed up to 2 billion patacas
(US$250 million) in 2004, representing a growth of 2.6 times in two
years.
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