Kwahu Pepease (E/R), July 30, GNA - The Kwahu Rural Bank made a net profit of 1.160 billion cedis last year as against 891.4 million cedis the previous year, an increase of 30 percent.

Total assets of the bank rose from 17.1 billion cedis in 2004 to 21 billion cedis in the year under review, a growth of 23 percent while total deposit went up from 10.9 billion cedis two years ago to 14 billion cedis last year an increase of 28.4 percent. The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr Samuel Nkansa-Boadi, announced this at the 24th Annual General Meeting of the bank at Kwahu Pepease on Saturday.

He said the share capital of the bank also grew by 15 percent from 872.6 million cedis in 2004 to one billion cedis in 2005, which enabled it to grant loans and over drafts totalling 6.6 billion cedis to its customers in the cottage industries, farming, trade and commerce and as salary advance for workers.

The Board Chairman said an amount of 103.06 million cedis was spent to pay a dividend of seven cedis a share to its shareholders while 122.6 million cedis was spent on bonus for shareholders He said the government channelled 460.85 million cedis through the bank for disbursement to beneficiaries under the poverty reduction programme in the area while it donated 19.450 million cedis to institutions and projects.

The beneficiaries include the Ghana National Trust Fund, the Science and Mathematics Education Clinics for basic schools, National Farmers' Day celebrations and bursaries for the wards of customers and shareholders.

In an address read on his behalf, the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, said the government would continue to pursue further reforms in the financial sector to make it more responsive to the needs of rural communities. He noted that banks in the country only reached out to about five percent of households while over 90 percent of companies in the private sector and Small and Medium Enterprises faced difficulties in accessing funds from the banks.

In an address read on his behalf, the Managing Director of ARB Apex Bank, Mr Emmanuel Kwapong, urged the Board and Management of rural banks to strive to make an impact on the attitude, resourcefulness and efficiency of their staff to make rural banks customer oriented.

He said the Apex Bank was committed to providing banking and non-banking support services in a holistic way to help improve their operational efficiency and customer service to address the banking needs of communities.