KARACHI, Feb 18: Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz on Monday expressed his satisfaction on the progress made by the First Women Bank Ltd (FWBL), especially during the last six months in making significant profits and showing growth in all financial activities during the year 2001.

He was chairing the performance review meeting of the bank. He appreciated management’s efforts in achieving these results and advised the management to workout strategic plan for best utilization of funds to further maximize its profits, says a bank press release.

Earlier, FWBL president Ms. Zarine Aziz, highlighting the progress of the bank, informed the meeting that the net profit before tax for the year ended December 31, 2001 was stood at Rs118 million as compared to Rs26 million earned during the previous year, showing a growth of 353.9 per cent.

Deposits have increased to Rs6.2 billion as compared to Rs3.4 billion, registered a growth of 82.4 per cent. Advances have improved from Rs585 million to Rs833 million, up 42.2 per cent.