Shun away from the present criteria of rating rural banks

Pakyi Number Two (Ash), Oct 18, GNA - Mr Godfried Odame-Asare, the Managing Director of Atwima-Kwanwoma Rural Bank, has called on the Bank of Ghana, the ARB Apex Bank and the Association of Rural Banks (ARB) to shun the present criteria of using deposit levels and profitability to rate rural banks.

Mr Asare-Odame made the call in his report at the 21st annual general meeting of the shareholders of the bank at Pakyi Number Two in the Amansie West District on Saturday.

He said the Bank of Ghana, the Apex Bank and the ARB should rate rural banks on how they create wealth in their catchments area, the number of development projects they have embarked upon and the number of students they assist.

The Managing Director said the bank was collaboration with the German Co-operation Agency (GTZ) now called SPEED, is to provide the bank with a loan of 4.4 billion cedis to expand the small and medium enterprises of the bank.

So far, he said, one billion cedis have been advanced to the bank and the bank is also in close collaboration with the UNDP that is providing assistance for the bank to expand its micro-finance sector. "The UNDP is providing the bank with capacity building and computers to expand its outreach programmes in the micro-finance sector. So far 12 computers, two servers and 12 printers have been supplied to the bank", he said.