Dr Prince Stephen Adom-Attakora, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, at the Bank's 30th Annual General Meeting at Kofiase, said its gross earnings saw a 4.83 per cent increase from GH¢16,151,516.00 in 2017 to GH¢16,931,948.00 in 2018, with profit before tax standing at GH¢2,079,557.00.

He gave the Bank's share capital in the same year as GH¢2,225, 092.00, which exceeded by 122.52 per cent the Bank of Ghana's new minimum capital requirement of GH¢1,000,000.00 for rural banks, making it one of the most well-capitalized rural banks in the Country.

Dr Adom-Attakora attributed the feat to the implementation of prudent and sound strategic measures in the year under review.

"All the major macroeconomic indicators in the country improved in the 2018 financial year with exception of the cedi, which cumulatively depreciated against the US dollar by 8.4 per cent as compared with 4.9 per cent in 2017. This really served as a great environmental challenge to our operational success,'' he noted.

Touching on the operational performance of the Bank, Mr Adom-Attakora said total assets of GH¢79,964,358.00 was accrued in the year, an improvement over the GH¢68,131,329.0 for 2017.

Investments and deposits of GH¢40,892,892.00 and GH¢66,146,441.00, respectively, were also accrued in 2018.

Additionally, GH¢38,084.00 was spent on corporate social responsibility to support socio-economic activities in the communities in which it operates, with the breakdown being GH¢21,854, GH¢11,240, GH¢ 1,800, GH¢2,190, and GH¢1,000 donated to the sectors of education, health, security services, municipal/district assemblies and the Traditional Council respectively, the Board Chair said.

Mr Adom-Attakora assured the shareholders of the Bank's readiness and commitment to implementing strong financial and corporate measures that would ensure continuity in the improvement and sustainability of its investments and business operations.

Mr Alex Kwasi Awuah, the Deputy Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, commended Otuasekan Rural Bank for the impressive performance and said its successes should motivate and not discourage the public from losing interest in patronising rural banks across the country.

Mrs Comfort Owusu, the Executive Director of the Association of Rural Banks in Ghana, commended it for the achievement and gave the assurance that all the 144 rural banks in the country were in good capital and financial standing.

She urged customers and shareholders of the various banks to continue to keep faith with them and reject any speculations that the sector had collapsed due to Bank of Ghana's regulation.

She said this could lead to panic withdrawals, which would not augur well for the banking and financial sector.

Mrs Owusu urged the Otuasekan and other rural/community banks to strengthen their engagement with the communities, especially through their corporate social responsibilities, which could build and sustain the trust of customers, shareholders and the public as a whole.