Muzaffarabad, (Parliament Times) : Bank of Azad Jammu and Kashmir completes 16 years of its operations. The 16th anniversary celebrations started by cutting the cake by Khan Abdul Majid Khan, the Minister of Finance, Cooperatives and Inland Revenue and Chairman of the Bank of AJK. Executives and officers of the Bank were also present on the occasion. The Chairman said that the progress and success of the Bank is the top priority of the Azad Kashmir Government. All efforts are being made rapidly to make the Bank one of the successful and leading banks and to get Schedule status. Earlier, Mr. Khawar Saeed, the President and Chief Executive Officer congratulated especially the customers and staff on the anniversary and said that the bank started operations in the year 2006 after a resolution passed in the State Legislative Assembly. He said that three years back, when I took over the charge, the Bank was facing multiple challenges with regard to Business, Operations, Information Technology, Internal Controls and Human Resource etc. Advances were showing declining trend. Profitability of the Bank was deteriorating year after year. By the grace of Allah SWT, through the introduction of modern business techniques, appropriate and effective planning, directional guidance by the management and subsequently successful execution thereof by the field, the Bank has reached to the height of excellence that I had visioned. Special & utmost emphasis was exercised to procure low-cost deposits and aggressive marketing strategies were introduced and implemented. To enhance the lending portfolio, attractive and competitive lending products were introduced. Working on war footing basis, business promotion campaigns were launched with introduction of performance-based culture to reward the field staff on exceptional performances and targeted business achievement.
He further said that as a result of prudent guidance and enthusiastic team effort, our profit has reached to ever highest figure of Rs. 668 million within 09 months. The deposits have touched to an historic figure of Rs. 20.6 billion. Our total assets have increased to a miraculous figure of Rs. 27.7 billion. Advances have grown to Rs. 3.4 billion and similarly home remittances business has reached to the highest figure of Rs. 4.2 billion. Branch network has reached to 81. This, in deed is an example of our sheer hard work, dedication and loyalty to the Institution.
It is worth mentioning here that with the help of Allah, the guidance of AJK Government, the vision of the BODS, especially the Chairman and the supervision and guidance of the President and Chief Executive Officer, organized and dynamic teamwork played a fundamental role in achieving historic business results.
