Rwanda Commercial Bank (BCR) announced a net profit after tax of Rwf2.3b for the year ended September 2011, up from Rwf1.7b last year, boosted by the good performance of the economy, according to the bank’s unaudited accounts.

Rwanda’s economy is expected to grow at 8.8 percent this year as opposed to earlier projections of 7.5 per cent driven by good performance in agriculture.

The bank said that its assets grew by 29 per cent while liquidity stands at 60 per cent  as deposits remained stable, growing at five percent.

"Most importantly, our net loans increased from Rwf28.4b to Rwf36.5billion making it 30 percent of lending asset,” Sanjeev Anand, BCR’s Managing Director said during a press briefing on Monday.

The net profit after tax as of September this year stood at Rwf2.3 billion. The figures presented are not audited but were sanctioned by the board.

With the non performing loans falling to 10.6 per cent from 20 per cent at the beginning of the year, the bank says it will continue to focus on retail, corporate and small and medium enterprises (SME) development.

"We don’t want to dominate in one area at the expense of another but rather in all the three segments, especially in SMEs, we want to become partners of our customers,” Anand said.

In a bid to boost SMEs access finance, BCR in collaboration with Germany Development Cooperation (GIZ) targets to train about 200 business operators in accounting skills, book keeping, preparing good and bankable projects and on doing business.

"It’s a win-win initiative, through improving their skills of presenting bankable and quality projects, they will be financed and in a better position to service their loans,

The bank says it will educate its clients on responsible lending and borrowing, a move which will help them take maximum precaution in asking for a particular loan.

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