US CONGRESS EXTENDS FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAMME

The US Congress on Friday approved a five-year extension to the National Flood Insurance Programme, ending a series of short-term extensions that lawmakers have implemented since 2008. The measure approved at the weekend is designed to make the NFIP more financially viable by giving it greater flexibility in raising rates and secure reinsurance from the private market. The NFIP currently owes the US Treasury more than $17bn, harking back to the 2005 hurricanes. The new long-term extension also calls for the phasing out of subsidies for second homes; raising the cap on annual rate hikes to 20% from 10%; the development of a plan by the NFIP to repay its debt; and the improvement of flood-plain maps by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the programme's administrator.