Performance of the Citizens Rural bank (CRB) dipped in 2013 as its profit before tax reduced from GH¢137,532.00 in 2012 to GH¢111,626.00 representing 19 per cent decrease.

That was due to an increase in the provision for bad and doubtful debts, which increased from GH¢37,000.00 in 2012 to GH¢75,000.00 in 2013 representing an increase of 103 per cent.

Dr Samuel Asomaning, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CRB disclosed this to the bank’s shareholders at its fifth Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at Nsawam.

According to him, an increase in the operating expenses from GH¢257,744.00 in 2012 to GH¢318,220.00 in 2013 also culminated to the reduction of the bank’s profit for the year under review, explaining that, “those expenses actually focused on putting measures in place to grow and expand operations of the bank at all fronts.”

Dr Asomaning said, the bank however recorded impressive gains in its other major operations such as its total assets, increasing from GH¢2,260,329.00 in 2012 to GH¢2,752,140.00 in 2013, representing 22 per cent.

The total deposits of the bank also saw a significant growth from GH¢1,975,351.00 in 2012 to GH¢2,364,011.00 in the year under review, representing a 20 per cent increase over the previous year.

He announced that the ARB Apex Bank’s Efficiency and Monitoring Unit had ranked the Citizens Rural Bank as the 29th out of a total field of 135 Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) in the country in 2013.

Dr Asomaning expressed gratitude to the staff, management and Board of Directors of the bank for their hard work and patience in the face of numerous challenges in the year under review.

Mr Alex Kwasi Awuah, Head of Internal Control Department of the ARB Apex Bank admonished the bank to strengthen its credit management practices to improve the quality of the credit portfolio and also advised that, the bank train its account opening officers adequately, to enable them to comply fully with account opening procedures as required by Bank of Ghana.

“We have observed from our regular inspection and examination that, many RCBs do not comply with the Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, as prescribed by Bank of Ghana; as a result, some banks have become the conduit for fraudulent persons to open accounts and perpetrate fraud,” he said.

Mr Awuah assured all RCBs of the Apex Bank’s continuous efforts to offer quality Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services to them to ensure efficiency in their service delivery.

The Board of Citizens Rural Bank introduced Mr William Adu Awuku, Mr Mark Gyapong and Mr Isaac Andorful as the new General Manager, Operations Manager and Head of Projects Department respectively.

The shareholders of the bank also elected Mr Godfred Acheapong, a lawyer, as a new member of the Board of Directors.