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05.12.2011 Business & Finance

Bank of Ghana withdraws funds from Bangmarigu

By GNA
Bank of Ghana withdraws funds from Bangmarigu
05.12.2011 LISTEN

Walewale (N/R), Dec. 4, GNA – The Bank of Ghana has recalled the unutilized funds of GHȼ 1,046,775.71 from the Bangmarigu Community Bank following its failure to utilize the funds which it was supposed to have been invested in treasury bills and the Apex Certificate of Deposit (ACOP).

The amount represents funds sourced for lending from the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA).

Mr John Asabigi, Board Chairman of the Bangmarigu Community Bank in the West Mamprusi District of the Northern Region, said this at the 11th Annual General meeting of Shareholders of the Bank in Walewale on Saturday.

He said as a result of the development the Banks investment in treasury bills and the ACOP dropped by 43 percent from GHȼ 1,174,800.00 in 2009 to GHȼ 668,400.00 in 2010.

The repayment of the amount, he said, also accounted for a 93 percent drop in short-term borrowings from GHȼ 1, 365,732.00 in 2009 to GHȼ 99,506.00 in 2010.

He said the impact of these negative trends has resulted in the fall in net interest income of 33 percent from GHȼ 350,227.00 in 2009 to GHȼ 236,216.00 in 2010, accounting for the fall in profit between the two years.

Mr Asabigi said despite these shortfalls the Bank's performance as at 31st December, 2010 could still be described as satisfactory even though it was not as good as the previous year.

He said total assets dropped from GHȼ 3,381,700.00 in 2009 to GHȼ 2,454,896.00 in 2010, representing a decline of 27 percent.

He said the Bank recorded a modest profit of GHȼ 37,497.00 in 2010 as compared with the 2009 high figure of GHȼ 176,118.00, which was a drop of 79 percent.

He said the big drop in investments and the accompanying income accounted for the decline in the Banks profits.

Mr Asabigi said “Our main challenge in our attempt to help the productive poor out of their situation has been their negative response with regard to loan recoveries”.

He appealed to beneficiaries of loans to pay their loans promptly and on schedule for the bank to stay in business, saying “otherwise your bank will be liquidated by the Bank of Ghana”.

Mr Success Aduamah, Branch Manager of the Bolgantanga Apex Bank Limited, appealed to Rural Commercial Banks (RCBs) to restructure the operations in the area of migration from manual operation to embracing information and communication Technology (ICT) with special attention to creating desks for share registry management, accounts or transaction reconciliation, micro finance, research and marketing as well as administration.

He also urged the RCBs to consider the idea of mergers to improve their service delivery and to enable them withstand the challenges of the competitive banking industry.

GNA

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