Speaking at the bank's investor conference and the facts-behind-the figures in Accra, Mrs Nettey said digitisation, rationalisation, investment in customers and clients as well as opportunistic assets growth would continue to be the cornerstone of the bank’s strategies to build on the gains.

She said the bank would pursue opportunities in the manufacturing, commerce and services sectors as well as the Small and Medium Scale Enterprise sector.However, she said, given the external environment the bank would thread cautiously in growing its loan book.

The bank last year posted a profit after tax of GH¢224.5 million, as against GH¢61.1 million figure recorded in 2015.Total assets of the bank grew by 30 per cent from GH¢3,369 million in 2015 to GH¢4,374 million in 2016.

Additionally, the income of the bank soared by 17 per cent from GH¢531.1 million in 2015 to GH¢620.8 million in 2016, while the interest income also year-on-year increased by 23 per cent from GH¢374 million to GH¢460 million in 2016.Mrs Nettey who expressed excitement about the 2016 performance said the bank would continue to deepen its client relationship as the economy fundamentals improved.

Mrs Nettey said she expected better performance in 2017 on the back of a stable cedi, which could impact positively on the performance of entrepreneurs. Mrs Nettey was happy to see the central bank policy rate trending downwards to 23.5% from the 25.5%, saying it will improve the business environment and help the bank grow its assets.

“We are also happy to see the policy rate begin to trend downwards. As the economy improves our clients will do better,” She added.The Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Limited, Kweku Nimfah-Essuman said the bank was well  capitalised to take on any big ticket  project  and meet the financial needs of customers.

He said the bank was cautious in growing its loan book last year, adding that the Non-Performing Loans (NPL) recorded last year was due to the banks over exposure to the manufacturing, commerce and industry sectors.Mr Nimfah-Essuman said the bank was working closely with its clients to recover the loans advanced to them.