Nyakrom Rural Bank launches new product

Agona Nyakrom (C/R), July 11, GNA - The Nyakrom Rural Bank, the pacesetters in rural banking has launched two new products known as Short-Term Savings Account and Over Draft to assist market women, traders and farmers in the area.

Mr Abraham Blessed Bonney, Deputy Project Officer of the Bank, who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview at Nyakrom at the weekend he explained that the products were designed to help traders and market women to improve their ventures. He said the Over Draft was specifically made to offer help to market women at the Agona Swedru Central Market to "fast track" their businesses to enable them earn more profits to give a helping hands to their husbands to care for their children's education. Mr Bonney stated that the bank also offered technical advice to farmers who had benefited from the product while market women were also given accounting, book keeping and other records keeping skills and to use the facility judiciously.

The Deputy Project Officer disclosed that farmers at Agona Nyakrom, Bobikuma, Abodom, Kasoa and Winneba had benefited. Mr Bonney stressed that a fast track processing of loans for salary workers had been adopted to enable them pay their children's school fees and to meet other personal problems. He said the bank disbursed 10.2 billion cedis to women and other groups under the government's micro-finance programme as part of the efforts to alleviate poverty.

The Deputy Project Officer pointed out that more than 9,000 people including women groups had benefited to enhance the quality of their life.

Mr Bonney underscored that the bank has set aside a substantial amount to help churches in the area to put up Church buildings, purchase land and processing of documents on undeveloped plots. He said the recovery from the customers had been encouraging since the scheme was started in 2002.

Mr Bonney appealed to Non Governmental Organisations, the District Assembly and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs to assist the bank with more funds to enable it to reach out to the people to reduce poverty.