Brakwa (C/R), Aug 6, GNA - The Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr. Emmanuel Kwapong, has said the banking industry had become so sophisticated that the slightest disturbance to the equilibrium would ward off customers.

He appealed to the banks to "continue to add value to their business through innovation, commitment and trust".

Mr Kwapong said this in a speech read for him at the 22 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Brakwa-Breman Rural Bank at Brakwa. Mr. Kwapong said the capital adequacy ratio position placed the bank at the 45th position amongst the 123 rural banks and appealed to it to strengthen its internal control mechanism. He urged the bank to take advantage of the improving macro-economic environment to re-position the operation of the bank in order to further enhance its overall result.

Mr Kwapong said the critical issues facing the rural banking system was the issue of good governance and urged the board to adopt the best practices within the industry.

"There is absolute necessity for management and staff to operate within the legal framework to ensure compliance and transparency in managing the affairs of the bank". The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Mr. Emmanuel Obeng, said the bank's profit dropped from 716 million cedis in 2005 to 393 million cedis in 2006.

These include reduction in discount rate of treasury bills, reduction in lending rates from 35 per cent to 30 percent per annum just after the first quarter of 2006 after which about 90 per cent of loans were made.

He said the bank total deposit increased from 7.91 billion cedis in 2005 to 9.58 billion cedis in 2006 and gave financial assistance of 14.94 billion cedis to some women groups and other sectors. Mr. P. C. Arthur, Supervising Manager of the bank, said the bank's total deposit since its establishment 24 years ago did not reach any appreciable level.

He said poor cocoa yield for 2006/2007 main crop season contributed to the bank poor performance in 2006. Purchase at the close of business on December 31, 2006 was 6.03 billion cedis against 16.93 billion cedis in 2005, a reduction of 10.90 billion cedis.