ANZ Bank has announced a net profit after a tax of $33 million dollars for this year, which is a 23% decline compared to last year.

ANZ Fiji's General Manager, Robert Bell said due to the political uncertainty before and after December 2006 and the subsequent economic downturn in 2007, ANZ achieved only an increase in total loans of 7% over the period.

He said a tight liquidity situation saw interest expenses increase 191% for the year while interest income grew by only 41%.

He said the main driver of the increase in provisions was a weaker tourism sector where many operators have been struggling with lower visitor arrivals.

He said bad and doubtful debt increased to $2.2million this year and this is expected to increase further next year.