Mr Kwaku Bonsu, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Bank, disclosed this in a report at the 31st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Bank at Bawjiase in the Awutu Senya West District of the Central Region.

He said the COVID-19 Pandemic impacted negatively on management efforts over the last two years to improve the fortunes of the bank.

He said during the year under review, there was a recovery of impaired investment thus restoring the stakeholders’ fund to GHc9.06 million against GHc5.47 million in 2020.

He said the bank’s deposit increased from GHc40.6 million in 2020 to GHc48.5 million in 2021, representing 19.47 per cent growth, adding that deposit mobilisation remained one of the important drivers.

He said the bank disbursed a total of GHc68 million in loans and advances to customers as against GHc49.6 million in 2020, representing a 37.11 per cent increase over the previous year.

He announced that as part of the bank’s corporate responsibility an amount of GHc12.8 million was spent on education and farmers’ day celebration activities to enhance the relationship with community members in the bank’s catchment area.

He said some initiatives were in place to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on operations, adding that the introduction of the Code Element Deduction from the Controller and Accountant General's Department, where one does not need to have an account with the bank to access loans was a good move.

”Additionally, we are working to bring back operations of the Susu Savings to help us increase the deposit mobilization drive that we intend to embark on, and it is our belief that with the necessary policies and support from our shareholders and other stakeholders, we shall achieve the set goals of the bank,” he said.