Africa-Press – Angola. The Bank of Commerce and Industry (BCI) closed its accounts in the first half of this year, with a net profit of 14 billion and assets of 800 billion kwanzas.
The announcement was made by the President of the Executive Committee, Renato Borges, at a press conference held in Lobito, during the presentation of the bank’s current status and portfolio objectives.
According to Renato Borges, that banking institution ranked among the top 10 in the national financial system both in terms of results and assets.
“Our business portfolio continues to grow, which demonstrates the confidence of our customers”, he stated.
To achieve this goal, according to the PCE, it was necessary to define goals for its recovery and stability.
Among these, several branches were closed and, consequently, workers were laid off across the country, whose maintenance was beyond the bank’s capacity.
“Today, BCI is one of the biggest contributors, going from being a weight to supporting the State”, he stated.
Making a comparison, as a public bank, the person responsible revealed that the institution annually contributed treasury obligations to the General State Budget (OGE), amounts that could be channeled to other services.
“By June 2022, the bank had a loss of 2.5 billion kwanzas and maintaining the old structure would mean closing its doors in a short time”, he assured.
In turn, the executive administrator, Jardel Duarte, stated that the bank is available to support projects that are sustainable.
In the agricultural sector, for example, it supports around 50 thousand small farmers who are part of a program, together with its partner Carrinho Agri, whose performance has been satisfactory.
“We are encouraging small businesses and we want, above all, to be a dynamic and agile bank, capable of responding to needs and being transparent in its decisions”, he emphasized.
The implementation of ATMs with the capacity to make funds available in locations where there is no branch nearby, is another of the several projects in the pipeline.
Regarding bad credit, he stated that it has been a concern and, in this regard, they have effective measures taken by the National Bank of Angola (BNA).
“We have been contacting customers and the last resort will be legal action”, he said.
Asked about the concern of customers who earn salaries at BCI with the increase in the rate on the amount borrowed, regarding salary advances, from 17 to 20 percent, he said that it is a cost that is previously defined at contract level.
“We know the impact it has on customers’ income, but unfortunately market conditions require it and the contract itself stipulates these changes, even without prior notice”, he informed.
Mutual agreement benefits former workers _
The advisor to the BCI Executive Committee, Mariana Aragão, stated that the institution established an agreement with former workers, including the partial or total forgiveness of their credits.
“That’s why we had massive participation, otherwise we wouldn’t have this success rate”, said the manager.
He made it known that, in order to reach an agreement with the dismissed workers, the contribution of the trade union was necessary.
BCI was acquired by Grupo Carrinho, in December 2021.
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