GHANA: Rural Banks declare ¢88.71bn profit

RURAL BANKS made a fabulous contribution to the economy last year by way of a declaration of a cumulative profit before tax of ¢88.71 billion.Mr. Godfried Odame Asare, Chief Executive Officer of Atwima Kwanwoma Rural bank attributed this to a marked improvement in all key financial indicators from the financial performance of all 124 rural banks in 2006.

He said with a collaboration with eight financial institutions 95 rural banks are un undertaking foreign funds transfer under which remittances grew by 76% from ¢126 billion in 2005 to ¢222 billion in 2006.

Referring to ARB Apex Bank data, Mr. Odame Asare, said rural banks have impacted positively on the economy having mobilized ¢2,264.61 billion in deposits from 2,493 customers in 2006.He said the figure represented 7.6% of the total deposits in the entire banking sector. He as well pointed to a total investment of ¢846.25 billion in treasury bills in the same year.

CEO Odame Asare said loans granted out of mobilized funds amounted to ¢1,151.00 billion as at December 2006. He said in spite of problems rural banks have increased to 124 with a total of 560 offices through the country.Following the positive impact the banker that efforts suggested at development must be focused in rural areas where 70% of the Ghanaian population lives to make the difference. [Read more]