Kumasi (Ashanti Region) - The Bosomtwe Rural Bank made 888.3 million cedis' net profit last year and the figure represents a 28.53 percent increase over the previous year's profit of 691.1 million cedis.

The Rev Simon Atta, chairman of the Bank's Board of Directors, said this at the 13th Annual General Meeting of the bank's shareholders at Kuntanase in Ashanti. The bank's deposits rose from 7.9 billion cedis to 14.3 billion cedis showing a growth of 81.1 percent.

He said there was also an appreciable increase in its investment as it went up from 6.3 billion cedis in 2001 to 8.7 billion cedis in 2002. The board chairman told the shareholders that an area where the bank made significant progress was the granting of loans and overdrafts to its customers.

He said loans and overdrafts to customers during the period stood at 5.76 billion cedis, showing an increase of 203.1 percent over that of 2001. Those who benefited were in the agriculture and cottage industries, trading and transport as well as micro credit and other sectors.

The Rev Atta said the bank also supported development projects and provided 17.6 million cedis as scholarship to four students of second cycle institutions.