Investor appetite for short-term government securities surged last week, with Treasury bills oversubscribed by 23.51% in the latest auction, underscoring growing confidence in Ghana’s domestic debt market.
According to data from the Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM), government sought to raise GH¢5.27 billion but received bids totaling GH¢6.51 billion, marking a sharp rise in demand from GH¢2.59 billion the previous week.
Of the total bids received, 99.89% of the 91-day, 83.54% of the 182-day, and 93.36% of the 364-day Treasury bills were accepted.
Yields showed mixed performance: the 91-day bill rose by 6 basis points to 10.53%, the 182-day bill fell by 4 basis points to 12.41%, while the 364-day bill remained steady at 12.87%.
Secondary market sees lower trading activity
Trading volumes on the secondary bond market fell by 7.2% week-on-week to GH¢6.4 billion, as investor focus tilted toward the primary auction.
BoG bills continued to dominate activity, accounting for 47.04% of total trades.
New Government of Ghana (GoG) Notes and Bonds made up 23.86%, corporate bonds contributed 14.76%, and Sell/Buy-Back transactions represented 9.16%.
Treasury bills and old GoG securities accounted for 0.11% and 0.08%, respectively.
Cedi appreciates against major currencies
The Ghanaian cedi strengthened against all major trading currencies, buoyed by improved market liquidity and sustained foreign inflows.
The local currency appreciated by 3.16% against the US dollar, closing the week at GH¢12.17 per dollar—translating into a year-to-date gain of 20.84%.
It also gained 4.11% against the British pound, ending the week at GH¢16.25 (YTD: 13.24%), and appreciated 4.25% against the euro, settling at GH¢14.14 (YTD: 7.60%), based on the Bank of Ghana’s interbank midrates.
Indicative open market rates reflected similar trends, with the cedi closing at GH¢12.23/USD, GH¢16.28/GBP, and GH¢14.15/EUR.
Stocks post strong weekly gains
On the equities front, the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) extended its bullish run, as the GSE Composite Index advanced 0.93% to close at 8,488.81 points, representing a 73.65% year-to-date return.
The rally was driven largely by gains in financial and consumer stocks, particularly CAL Bank, Fan Milk, Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL), TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana, Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), and Ecobank Ghana.
CAL Bank rose 14.49% to GH¢0.79 (YTD: 125.71%)
Fan Milk gained 9.91% to GH¢5.99 (YTD: 61.89%)
Guinness Ghana climbed 9.87% to GH¢6.01 (YTD: 9.27%)
TotalEnergies Ghana jumped 9.73% to GH¢40.60 (YTD: 209.45%)
Ecobank Ghana rose 6.06% to GH¢14.00 (YTD: 115.38%)
GCB Bank increased 3.53% to GH¢15.53 (YTD: 143.80%)
On the downside, MTN Ghana fell 0.44% to GH¢4.50, Unilever Ghana dipped 0.95% to GH¢19.80, and NewGold ETF declined 1.90% to GH¢467.67.
Market activity was robust, with trading volumes soaring 169.91%, from 6.72 million shares the previous week to 18.15 million shares, valued at approximately GH¢123 million.
Outlook
Market analyst Joshua Adagbe of Tesah Capital projects that financial and ICT stocks will remain key drivers of the GSE’s performance in the coming week.
“Investor optimism is strong, particularly toward well-performing financial institutions and tech-linked counters. Continued cedi stability and favourable monetary conditions could sustain this upward momentum,” Adagbe noted.
The combination of Treasury bill oversubscription, a strengthening cedi, and bullish equities highlights renewed investor confidence in Ghana’s macroeconomic outlook as the year draws to a close.
