OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Rating comments in a new report on the stable outlook for non-life insurance in Chile, reflecting the higher probability of ratings affirmations during 2016.

The sector's outlook is stable despite persistence of the country's limited economic performance in the short term, reflecting the maturity and operational flexibility of the non-life insurance industry. Premiums growth should continue to be low during 2016, driven mainly by the expected slow performance of the Chilean economy and its effect on containing private investment and private consumption. While non-life insurance operational performance has shown progressive deterioration as a result of the highly competitive environment, Fitch expects that the main underwriting ratios will rebound slightly during 2016. Major leverage ratios remain adequate and have sufficient room to support our expectation of premiums growth.

Chile's solid reinsurance structure will continue to be a pillar to the soundness and stability of industry results, mitigating severity risks or catastrophic events. The sufficient non-life reinsurance protection keeps a limited and controlled effect on the net loss ratio against catastrophic disaster.