Photo: Benny Popoitai (Centre) with members of SLIA act
A review into the Superannuation and Life Insurance industry has been compiled and recommendations have been presented to the regulator, The Bank of Papua New Guinea.
It is a step towards making the necessary amendments towards Superannuation and Life Insurance legislations passed by Parliament more than two decades ago.
The Superannuation and Life Insurance Act review committee worked over 18 months conducting various public forums across the key regions of the country in order to seek reviews from a wide spectrum from the urban, semi-urban and the rural population.
The committee’s findings and recommendations were presented on Thursday to the Acting Governor for the Bank of Papua New Guinea Mr Benny Popoitai.
The Superannuation and Life Insurance Act has not been reviewed after it was passed nearly 23 yeras ago. BPNG Acting Governor Popoitai, before receiving the review recommendations in Port Moresby last Thursday, spoke on the importance of legislations adapting to the changing economic trend.
"With economic development there are challenges that need to be identified, where there are inefficiency we need to improve so that amendments and changes in legislation may be necessary," Popoitai said.
The superannuation and life insurance industry plays a huge and critical role in mobilising savings and making strategic investments with the objective of providing a comfortable retirement for contributing members and to protect policy holders and their beneficiaries from the risk of illness and death.
Given the significance of both industries to Papua New Guinea's economy, it is vital to ensure the legislative regulatory framework in which they operate is consistent and is in line with international best practices that takes into consideration domestic circumstances and stakeholder expectations.
The superannuation and life insurance review committee chairman, Erastus Kamburi, said the contents of the two reports will be made public and available by the Bank of PNG after its presentation to the Minister for Treasury, who had commissioned the review of the act back in 2020.
"The report has been formally presented to the owner of the report which is the Bank of PNG and Treasury and the contents of the report will be made available to the public by the Central Bank and the Department of Treasury," Mr Kamburi said.
