Government has injected $30 million into state-owned Agricultural Bank of Zimbabwe (Agribank) ahead of this month’s deadline for financial institutions to meet minimum capital requirements, the bank said on Tuesday while reporting a flat performance for the full year to December last year.
The loss for the year marginally narrowed to $9 million from $9,2 million in the prior period. Interest income was flat at $12,4 million after the bank reduced its loan book, with loans and advances falling to $77 million from $90 million in prior year.
Interest expenses and similar charges declined to $5,5 million from $4,9 million.
“The bank received $4 million capitalisation from government in November, 2014. The bank’s core capital as at December 31 was $7,575 million. The bank is pleased to advise that government, as the shareholder of the bank has capitalized the bank to the tune of $30 million,” Agribank chairman Sij Biyam said in a statement accompanying the audited financials.
“The capital injection in May has therefore enabled Agribank to achieve a Tier 1 core capital level in excess of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe minimum capital threshold of $25 million.”
The bank said it would this embark on a restructuring exercise to reduce operating costs which stood at $22,9 million during last year. -The Source