Insurance premiums in Syria went up by 4.36% during the third quarter of 2009 over the same period last year, said Mohammad al-Hussein, the Syrian Minister of Finance and Head of the Syrian Insurance Supervision Commission. The amount of insurance premiums has risen by 15.33 %, growing from S.P. 9,042 billion to S.P. 10,428 billion between January and September 2009.

According to SANA news agency, Al-Hussein added that there has been a growth in most of the insurance institutions, with flight, health and life insurance hitting record high. Syrian General Insurance Establishment is leading the market, where insurance premiums have grown by 30%, capturing 48.6% market share, he indicated. "These indications signal recovery of the Syrian insurance sector having not been affected by the global financial crisis," al-Hussein said, "and our goal is for the insurance premiums to exceed USD 500 million annually to keep up with the Syrian economic volume and the number of population."

© 2009 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)