First Allied Savings and Loans opens Accra Branch

Accra, April 26, GNA - The Central Bank on Thursday expressed worry about the poor rate of loan recovery by most financial institutions, saying a continuous trend could eventually lead to the collapse of some banks.

Speaking at the official opening of the Accra Branch of the First Allied Savings and Loans Limited, Mr Joseph Akunyumi-Tetteh, Chief Manager of the Bank of Ghana, stressed the need for banks to institute efficient credit appraisal and management policies to prevent such loan delinquency.

Mr Akunyumi-Tetteh said beneficiaries of loan facilities must note that their inability to pay back on time deprived others from accessing such facilities.

He said with a stable macro-economy environment that had seen steady decline in the inflation rate and bank rates thus making treasury bills unattractive to investors, there was the urgent need for financial institutions to be mindful of loopholes in credit administration. Mr. Akunumi-Tetteh therefore advised management of the Bank to ensure quality service delivery to retain customers and to support the Central Bank in its sensitisation programmes on the re-denomination exercise.

Mr Dennis R. Jones, Board Chairman of First Allied Savings and Loans Limited, said the Bank established 11 years ago was committed to satisfying the financial needs of the small and micro-businesses. In 2006, the bank granted a total of 197.17 billion cedis to SMEs while in the first quarter of 2007 credit made available totalled 49.63 billion cedis.

He said the macro-economic stability called for more credit facilities to enable micro, small and medium enterprises in the informal sector have access to broad range of services and products designed to meet the needs of the sector. The Bank had staff strength of 312 employees and a deposit base of 151.43 billion cedis as at March 2007.