Kumasi, Dec.14, GNA - The Saint Paul's Credit Union recorded a reduction in profit from last year's figure of 168.2 million cedis to 98.9 million cedis this year. Mr Mathew Appiah, Manager of the union, announced this at the 13th annual general meeting of the union in Kumasi at the weekend. He attributed the reduction to the establishment of credit unions in the other churches within its catchment area.

Mr Appiah said in spite of the problem, management of the union would adopt prudent measures in future to enhance growth. He said the union's assets, however, registered growth from 4.8 billion cedis last year to 6.8 billion cedis this year while shares also grew from 316 million cedis to 524 million cedis within the period. Mr Appiah said the union disbursed 5.2 billion cedis as loans to members and managed to collect only 4.1 billion cedis from defaulters this year.

Dr Dwomoh Forkuo, Chairman of the Ashanti Regional Chapter of Credit Unions Association (CUA), appealed to the Government to channel the poverty alleviation fund through credit unions since they could manage the fund effectively and efficiently. He said channelling the fund through the credit unions would also relieve the Government of the difficulty in retrieving the loans, which most people regarded as gifts from defaulters. Dr Forkuo called on credit unions to institute proper loan policies to enhance easy loan collection and repayment that held the key to capital mobilization.

Mr Fofie Agyemang, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the union, commended the members for their continued savings that had enhanced the union's performance.