The total assets of the bank also grew from GH¢22.14 million in 2015 to GH¢27.46 million while deposits also increased from Gh¢14.23 million to Gh¢17.14 million in the period under review.

The immediate past Chairman of the board of directors of the bank, Dr Samuel Donyina-Ameyaw, announced this at the 2016 annual general meeting of the bank at Kintampo.

The report, which was presented by a member of the board, Mr Yaw Effah-Baafi, also indicated that the shareholders’ funds also went up from GH¢5.81 million to GH¢6.98 million, representing an increase of 20.11 per cent.

Loan advances and repayment

As a result of the expansion of the bank’s liabilities, its loans and advances portfolio grew from GH¢8.11 million in 2015 to GH¢9.68 million in the period under review. The bank’s capital adequacy ratio of 31.43 per cent is well above the minimum regulatory requirement of 10 per cent.

The report said in spite of these developments, the bank experienced a sluggish loan repayment, with the board warning that it would not hesitate to use all available means to recover the loans if persuasion failed.

Corporate tax

Mr Effah-Baafi told the shareholders that the bank paid corporate tax of GH¢473,785 to the government in 2016 as against the GH¢188,561 it paid in 2015 as a result of the upward adjustment of Corporate Tax from eight per cent to 25 per cent.

He, however, stated that the imposition of higher corporate taxes on banks was gradually affecting operations of banks in the country.

“Rural banks are supposed to alleviate poverty and build up the economic livelihood of the rural and peri-urban communities, but the huge taxes imposed on them will hamper their operations,” he stated.

He, therefore, appealed to the government to reduce the 25 per cent corporate tax on rural and community banks to enable them to stay in business and continue to support the rural population.

“The nature of rural banks and the areas they operate in will require government’s interventions from time to time to sustain the bank’s growth,” he stated.

Lending to agric and SMEs

Mr Effah-Baafi disclosed that the support of the bank in the agricultural sector had been tremendous as it partnered the United States Agency for International Development-Financing Ghanaian Agriculture Project (USAID-FinSAP) to advance a loan of GH¢0.96 million to 428 beneficiary farmers in the cultivation of maize, soya bean, rice and their value chain at a reduced interest rate.

According to him, the amount represented a 71 per cent increase over the 2015 total advance to the agriculture sector of GH¢0.56 million.

He added that the bank’s microfinance unit expanded it to cover most clients who were into SMEs within the bank’s catchment area, explaining that the bank advanced an amount of GH¢1.7 million to support 298 groups with average membership of four.

On corporate social responsibility, Mr Effah-Baafi said the bank provided assistance in various forms to improve health delivery, promote education, sports and other social events in the communities in which it operated.