HANOI, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's insurance market outlook is forecast to be upbeat with companies expected to record higher profits in 2023 thanks to a continual interest rate hike trend, local media reported on Monday.
The majority of insurers' investment portfolios are bank savings and government bonds, whose interest rates are forecast to remain at high levels in 2023, local newspaper Vietnam News reported.
The current legal regulations stipulate that insurers have to use at least 70 percent of their capital to deposit at banks or buy government bonds to ensure capital safety.
As the interest rate hike trend is forecast to remain in 2023, financial activities of insurance companies are expected to continually record positive results this year, the newspaper said.
The interest rates for 12-month term deposits at local banks in 2022 increased by 2-4 percent per year on average.
As of December 12, 2022, the total assets of insurance companies grew by 14.51 percent against the beginning of the year to 811.31 trillion Vietnamese dong (34.4 billion U.S. dollars), while equity reached 162.81 trillion Vietnamese dong (6.9 billion dollars), up 3.83 percent. ■
