Assin Manso (C/R), Oct. 28, GNA - The Assinman Rural Bank Limited made a profit before

tax of 92, 23.32 Ghana cedis in 2008 against 87,178.55 Ghana Cedis in 2007. He said the bank paid a corporate tax of 4,912.26 leaving a net profit of 87,111.06 in 2008, an

increase of 10.69 percent over the 2007 figure of 78,695.84 Ghana cedis. The bank's total assets rose to 2,950,416.62 against 2,598,596.74 Ghana cedis in 2007,

representing an increase of 13.54 percent, while the total deposit also increased by 13.59 percent

from in 2007 1,917,180.31 to 2,176,172.00 Ghana cedis to 2008 The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Mr Frank Owusu, said this at its 17th Annual General Meeting.

Mr Owusu said the bank invested 374,690 Ghana cedis in government treasury bills, this representing an increase of 20 percent against 312,100.00 Ghana cedis in 2007. Loans and advances increased from 1,672,940.78 Ghana cedis in 2007 to 1,797,450 Ghana cedis in 2008.

The Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Eric Osei Bonsu, said in a speech read for him that banking currently depended on the provision of quality services to customers.

"It is therefore, important for Rural/Community Banks (RCBs) to train their staff to enable

offer quality service to their customers," he said.