Badu (B/A), Dec. 18, GNA - Mr. Emmanuel K. Kwapong, Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank Limited, has urged managements of rural banks to ensure that their product base was enhanced to include the granting of advances to companies and individuals. This, he said, would help improve the livelihood of the rural poor and promote the rapid development of the rural communities. Mr Kwapong said this in a speech read for him at the 19th Annual General Meeting of shareholders of Baduman Rural Bank at Badu in Tain District.

He said Apex Bank had outlined a lot of micro-finance programmes geared towards the youth within the catchments areas of rural banks and to develop occupations that could be supported through such credits from the banks.

Mr. Kwapong stressed the need for the shareholders to ensure selecting persons without questionable characters to make them serve as the bank's Board of Directors.

Nana Sammy Fofie, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said the bank recorded a profit before tax of 250,014,405 cedis in 2006 and this was a little below the previous year's figure of 250,318,263 cedis. The bank's total deposit increased from 13.9 billion cedis to 16.3 billion cedis in the period under review that represented an increase of 16.4 percent.

The bank's total assets stood at 20.7 billion cedis that was also an improvement of 17 percent over the previous year's record. Mr. Fofie said the bank granted a loan of 9.3 billion cedis to customers in 2006 as against 5.1 billion cedis in 2005 and the beneficiaries were engaged in agriculture, cottage industry, transport, trading and other income generating ventures.

He said the bank instituted a scholarship scheme to support brilliant but needy children of shareholders. Mr. Collins Offinam Takyi, Administrator of the Brong-Ahafo Chapter of Association of Rural Banks praised shareholders for the support to management of the bank in chalking success. 18 Dec 07