"Don't shift all burdens to the government," he said and asked the stakeholders of the insurance companies to become more transparent through practicing corporate governance.

Mentioning the inferior practice of corporate governance in the sector, the adviser said insurance companies provide inaccurate information on their financial statements in the name of management costs, which is a reversal of the real picture.

And by practicing such things they evade taxes, he said.

The adviser made the comments yesterday when members of the Bangladesh Insurance Association (BIA) at a workshop in Dhaka demanded reduction in corporate tax of the sector.

The BIA organised the workshop on 'Contribution of Insurance to Bangladesh Economy' at a city hotel.

Dwelling on alleged delayed claims settlement practice by the insurance companies, he asked the insurers, "Why does it need external pressure, which you should have done morally and legally?"

There are reports that the insurance companies resolved 80 percent of unsettled claims in the last three months, the rest of which remained unsettled for more than three years.

The adviser said insurance can help the economy. But even though, the contribution of 60 insurance companies to the economy is very small.

Responding to the insurers' demands, the adviser said the revised insurance act, 1973 would be placed to the cabinet in a very short time. After the amendment, the insurance sector will go under supervision of the Ministry of Finance instead of the Ministry of Commerce, he told the workshop.

Abdul Matlub Ahmad, the BIA executive body member, presented the keynote paper at the workshop.

He hoped that the insurance sector-- both life and general-- will be able to generate a premium income of Tk10,000crore and make an investment of around Tk12000crore and its contribution to the national exchequer will be around Tk500crore in the next five years.

Mahbubur Rahman, chairman of Eastland Insurance Co Ltd, stressed the need for a clear guideline for the insurance sector.

He said in absence of a proper guideline the insurance companies compete each other by offering extra incentives to the customers.

Mahfuzul Haque, chief controller of the Department of Insurance, said that his department surveyed all private insurance companies and found some anomalies.

He suggested evaluation of the insurance company activities by credit rating companies so that the sector can become more transparent to customers as well as to the government.

Nizam Uddin Ahmed, BIA vice chairman, Nasir A Choudhury, former chairman, A B M Nurul Haque, member of executive committee of BIA, were also present at the workshop.