The Hindu Business Line : Postal life insurance funds to be invested in Govt bonds

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NEW DELHI The government has decided to invest Postal Department's Postal Life Insurance and Rural Postal Life Insurance Funds, deposited with Ministry of Finance, in government bonds and securities as per IRDA norms, according to the Economic Survey. An investment board would decide policy guidelines for the management of the fund whereas an investment division manned by financial experts would take day-to-day decisions.

Two public sector asset management companies would make the execution of the decisions of the investment division. The Survey said a proposal to create a Special Purpose Vehicle for planning and execution of commercial utilisation of vacant plots of land and buildings is under active consideration of the government.

The SPV is proposed to be a 100 per cent subsidiary of DoP. With the new initiatives such as Instant Money Order, railway reservations and rural banking among others taken by DoP, the deficit of the department has declined to Rs 1250 crore in 2006-07 fro m Rs 1,382 crore in 2004-05. In order to provide a level playing field to the department and also to regulate the courier market, the government is also considering appropriate amendments to the Indian Post Office Act, 1898, the Survey said. The Indian p ostal network is the third largest in the world with over 1.55 lakh post offices across the country. - PTI

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