The Sunyani Municipal Teachers’ Cooperative Credit Union (SMTCCU) Limited has recorded a sound growth in all financial indicators during the 2013 fiscal year under review.

The credit union’s net surplus multiplied from GH¢89,810 between July 2012 and June 2013 to GH¢448,840 -- which represents an incredible growth of 399.73%.

The total income of SMTCCU also saw a colossal increase from GH¢506,490.83 in 2012 to GH¢1,208,150 this year, signifying an impressive growth of 138%.

The Board Chairman of SMTCCU, Kwabena Adusei made these known during the 8th Annual General Meeting of shareholders held in Sunyani on Tuesday. He said the main source of income for the credit union is interest on loans. Areas its loans covered last year were education, housing, trading, transport, agriculture and social among others.

During the financial year under review, an amount of GH¢4,890,310 was disbursed as loans, yielding an interest of GH¢1,017,966 as against the GH¢417,965 accrued last year, indicating a whopping increase of 143%.

The credit union in addition to loans disbursement has also invested in Treasury bills, Gold Coast Security -- a private security firm, hostel business, fixed deposits, M-Fund (Data banking) and a host of other ventures.

It is the credit union’s vision to improve upon the living standard of teachers as well as the local populace of Sunyani and its environs, by offering competitive financial services which include providing loans at reasonable and fair interest rates to its members. The total assets of the Sunyani Municipal Teachers’ Cooperative Credit Union are presently valued at GH¢6,454,630 -- shooting up from GH¢3,755,048 in the year gone by.

The membership base of the Union has witnessed a 56.78% growth, from 3,779 last year to 5,925 in 2013. The minimum share-holding capital per member is GH¢100. Members’ share capital is currently pegged at GH¢342,279, representing a 100% increase over the previous year’s total of GH¢170,491. Meanwhile, savings of members this year stood at GH¢5,563,091; a remarkable improvement over the 2012 sum of GH¢3,460,418.

Mr. Adusei encouraged dormant members whom he described as “sleeping on the dormancy mat” to re-activate their membership status in order to bestow on them the credit union’s genuine financial services.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, he repeatedly expressed his appreciation to management and staff for their “continued support, loyalty and commitment” to society, and urged them to remain focused on the mission and vision of the credit union.