The five-day conference,be­ing attended by 200 CEOs, would deliberate on challenges confronting rural and commu­nity banking in the country, and how to make it more attractive to customers.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Board Chairman of ARB Apex Bank, Dr Toni Aubynn, said the theme for the conference was apt as it was significant to the ever-chang­ing landscape of the financial sector, particularly in relation to RCBs.

He observed that the recent Domestic Debt Exchange Pro­gramme (DDEP) had brought about significant transformation in the financial sector as it sought to restructure national debt, and enhance government’s capacity to support economic growth, which had affected the growth plan of RCBs.

Dr Aubynn stressed it was important for the country to recognise the vital role that RCBs played in the promotion of economic development and finan­cial inclusion because the banks were the lifeblood of providing essential services to individuals and businesses that were often overlooked by larger financial institutions.

The Managing Director of ARB Apex Bank, Mr Alex Kwasi Awuah, said as an industry, it had barely recovered from the ravages of COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine when the government’s DDEP hit the banks.

Mr Awuah said RCBs had over the past 40 years been

 consistent partner in government financial intermediation, and added that there were 147 RCBs in more than 800 communities in the 16 regions.

The banks, he said, had become leaders in micro, small and medium financial support to entrepreneurs as well as business­es in the country.

Mr Awuah said the sector used to pay flat corporate income tax of 8 percent, but was later increased to 25 percent, and appealed to the government for reduction in the corporate income tax rate for RCBs.

He said the RCBs were sig­nificantly affected by the DDEP because the sector held a total of 1.10 billion in government bonds which were restructured, and a major blow to the banks as it had jolted financial plans and wiped off projected interest and incomes which led to signif­icant losses.