Mr Alhassan Andani, Managing Director of Stanbic Bank, has projected a strong foreign exchange market with the cedi trading broadly stable against the major international currencies.
Speaking to selected journalists on the performance of the bank last year, Mr Andani said he expected inflation to be in line with government projections and that economy growth would remain within the range of 8 percent.
Mr Alhassan Andani said it was important the government consider the issuing of long term bonds to enhance infrastructural development.
He said the oversubscription of recently issued two and five year bonds was a clear indication of strong investors� confidence in the economy and urged government to take advantage of it to issue long term bonds.
Mr Andani said issuing bonds between 12 and 15 years would open up the economy and facilitate private investment through public- private- partnership to further expand infrastructure development.
He said this would to a large extent help in the establishment of a long-term debt-market in the country adding that such a move must be backed by stable inflation and macro-economic stability.
He described the bank�s financial results for 2012 as exceptionally strong with all segments of the business unit contributing to growth.
The bank reported a net profit of GHȼ56.9 million, representing a 97 per cent increase over the prior year�s results of GHȼ28.8 million.
The results, he said, were driv�en by outstanding performance across all business units which were underpinned by robust client activity and a superior ability to innovate and address the needs of our customers.
�Additionally, we experienced a significant improvement in the quality of our loan portfolio, the result of a deliberate strategy to focus on our priority segments and key client sets,� he said.
Mr Andani said although the bank�s operating costs increased considerably during the year, it was in line with the significant investments in branch infrastructure and personnel.
The bank, he said, continues to roll out new products and services within its Personal business unit to enhance its client offering. Some of the initiatives include SMS and email alerts, mobile banking and executive banking.
�We also invested significantly in the branch network, laying the groundwork for the establishment of eight new branches. Four of these branches will be launched in early 2013 with the remainder set to open by year end 2013,� he said.
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