The latest government Treasury bill auction ended in significant undersubscription, as investor demand fell short of expectations despite marginal declines in yields across the various maturities.
Joshua Adagbe, a market analyst at Tesah Capital, noted that the government targeted GH₵6.72 billion but only received bids worth GH₵3.52 billion, reflecting a 47.69% undersubscription.
This marked a sharp drop from the GH₵5.82 billion recorded in the previous week’s auction.
According to the auction results, demand was heavily skewed towards the shorter-term instruments.
The government accepted 98.05 percent of bids for the 91-day bill, 98.69% of bids for the 182-day bill, and 60.58% of bids for the 364-day bill.
Yields eased slightly, with the 91-day bill declining by 9 basis points to 10.33%, the 182-day bill dipping by 2 basis points to 12.37%, and the 364-day bill edging down by 1 basis point to 12.99%.
Secondary market trading sees 8.1% decline
On the Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM), activity also slowed, with trading volumes falling 8.1% over the week to GH₵5.8 billion.
Market activity was dominated by the Bank of Ghana bills, which accounted for 59.84% of transactions.
Other segments contributed as follows: new Government of Ghana notes and bonds (19.50%), corporate bonds (18.15%), Treasury bills (1.45%), sell-buy-back trades (0.93%), and old GoG notes and bonds (0.12%).
Cedi weakens after weeks of strength
The Ghanaian cedi registered a sharp depreciation against the major trading currencies during the week under review.
Against the US dollar, the local currency slipped by 4.39%, closing at GH₵11.40 per dollar, although it still holds a year-to-date gain of 28.95%.
The cedi also lost 4.17% against the British pound, closing the week at GH₵15.40, with a year-to-date gain of 19.49%. Similarly, it depreciated 4.15% against the euro, settling at GH₵13.34, but retained a year-to-date appreciation of 14.08%.
Indicative rates from the open market were slightly higher, with the cedi closing at GH₵11.53 to the dollar, GH₵15.55 to the pound, and GH₵13.45 to the euro.
GSE index slips despite strong year-to-date gains
The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) Composite Index closed lower by 0.22%, ending the week at 7,330.37 points.
Despite the dip, the index still boasts an impressive 49.95% year-to-date return.
Losses in the share prices of Access Bank Ghana PLC, MTN Ghana, and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) outweighed gains recorded in other equities.
Access dropped 0.06% to GH₵16.36, MTN declined 0.77% to GH₵3.87, and ETI fell 1.28% to GH₵0.77.
On the positive side, Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) surged 50 percent to GH₵0.03, while Intravenous Infusions Limited (IIL) advanced 25% to GH₵0.05.
Other notable gainers included NewGold (+4.67% to GH₵396.70), Ghana Oil Company Limited (+2.21% to GH₵2.31), CalBank (+2.00% to GH₵0.51), GCB Bank (+1.62% to GH₵10.01), Ecobank Ghana (+1.23%to GH₵9.02), and Republic Bank Ghana (+0.92% to GH₵1.10).
Market activity, however, slowed significantly.
Trading volumes plunged 83.59 percent, from over 13.1 million shares the previous week to 2.15 million shares, while the total value traded stood at approximately GH₵15 million.
Outlook
Market watchers suggest that the outlook for the coming week will hinge on developments in financial stocks and the ICT sector, which are expected to play a pivotal role in driving the GSE’s performance.
Meanwhile, analysts continue to monitor the government’s financing strategy amid the recurring undersubscriptions in the T-bill market, the volatility of the cedi, and investor sentiment across fixed income and equities.
