The Ahantaman Rural Bank PLC continued to make reasonable improvement in performance in key areas including deposits, investment, paid up capital and total assets. The bank received a total deposit of GHC178, 237, 592 cedis in 2022 and increased by Ghc 236,095,344 in 2023. Investment also increased in 2022 from GHC88, 786, 719 to GHC 113, 426, 367 in 2023 while paid up capital rose from GHc 7,096,624 to Ghc 7,173,984 in 2023. Mr Eric Danning, the Board Chairperson of Ahantaman Rural Bank, referring to the 2023 Report at the 36 Annual General Meeting of the Bank, noted that the Domestic Exchange Programme introduced by the Government in the last quarter of 2022 affected the sector. 'However, we managed to recover and made some significant gains,' he said. That, notwithstanding, the Board of the Bank had proposed a dividend of GH0.03 per share, subject to the approval by the Bank of Ghana, which is equivalent to 25 per cent of profit after tax and in line with statutory regulation requirements. Mr Danning said the Bank had invested 57,540 cedis into shares at the ARB Apex Bank in the year under review. It also placed second out of 147 Rural and community Banks in the first quarter efficiency monitoring Unit Ranking of the ARB Apex Bank and ranked on the 50th ladder of the Ghana Club 100, he said, adding that it was important to keep the momentum. He said the company would continue to improve on ICT services to ensure quality delivery for customer satisfaction and loyalty. 'The Board and Management recognised that a lot still remains to be done to achieve our desired goals and objectives …we will continue to apply the best strategies, good policies and prudent management of the Bank's resources to achieve accelerated growth in the years ahead,' Mr Danning said. The financial institution also embarked on many social responsibility programmes, including payment of school fees, medical support, Appiatse community disaster support and traditional leaders support to the tune of 630,710 cedis in 2023. The Chair man cautioned unscrupulous staff to desist from looting the fortunes of shareholders, adding that those already caught been dismissed and would face the full rigours of the law. The Board hoped to engage the services of three new imminent practitioners in the backing industry to drive growth and encouraged the shareholders to support and cooperate with them to deliver. Mr Eric Okyere, the Western Regional Manager of the ARB Apex Bank, was pleased with management's consistency to grow the bank and advised members to comply with industry standards and adopt risk management strategies to continue to stay afloat. Nana Kwesi Agyeman IX, the Paramount Chief of Lower Axim, lauded the fortitude of the founding fathers and the struggles surmounted to achieve the Bank's current glory. Source: Ghana News Agency