Uganda central bank takes over small commercial bank

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda's central bank has taken over the management of the local Global Trust Bank (GTB) after it said the small bank was not commercially viable, the central bank governor said on Friday. The central bank said the move would have little impact on the industry because the bank that began operations in 2008 controlled just 0.5 percent of banking industry deposits. "The reason for the closure is that the bank has failed to become commercially viable," the governor of the Bank of Uganda (central bank), Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, said in a statement. He said GTB had incurred persistent losses that had accumulated to 60 billion Ugandan shillings ($22.83 million). "There is no realistic prospect that it would ever become profitable in the future," he added. Deposits held with GTB, worth about 73 billion shillings, were transferred to DFCU bank, which would honour cheques drawn on depositor accounts with sufficient funds, the governor said. According to its website, as of Sept. 30, 2013, GTB had a capital base of 69.55 billion shillings and an asset base of 97.98 billion shillings. ($1 = 2628.0000 Ugandan Shillings)