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T-Bills sale undersubscribed 10.5% in 3rd quarter as investors shift attention to bond market – Report

Treasury bills sale was undersubscribed during the third quarter of 2021, according to Economic and Financial Market Review compiled by Tesah Capital.

The overall subscription rate was 89.5%, down from the government target of ¢16.83 billion, as investors shifted their interest to the bond market in search of higher yields.

The interest rates for the 364-day, 182-day and 91-day T-bills also declined by 19 basis points, 17 basis points and 13 basis points from the second quarter of 2021, to 16.14% , 13.21% and 12.49% respectively, in the third quarter 2021.

Activity on the secondary bond market also increased, with the turnover increasing by 92.4% year-on-year in quarter three 2021 to ¢49.37 billion, from ¢25.66 billion in quarter 3, 2020.

The Government of Ghana (GoG) securities accounted for 85.5% of total volumes traded in third quarter of 2021, down from 90.8% recorded in second quarter 2021. This was due to an increase in corporate bond issuances during the period that is ESLA, Daakye and Letshego.

The GoG securities constituted 80.83% of the market size as of September, 2021.

GSE equity market exhibited outstanding performance

For the equity market, the Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index (GSE-CI) continued on an upward trajectory in GSE-CI quarter 3, 2021 as it closed the quarter at 2,855.29 up from 2,643.67points in quarter 2, 2021, with a year-to-date return of 47.06%.

The equities market performance during the quarter was driven mainly by gains recorded by Ghana Stock Exchange Financial Stock Exchange (GSE-FSI).

The GSE-FSI gained 9.82% following the release of the half-year 2021 financial results of listed banks as compared to a gain of 1.38% in the previous quarter.

Trading volumes declined by 41.8% as share volume of 73.50 million valued at ¢103.55 million changed hands compared with 104.22 million shares valued at ¢135.24 million which settled in second quarter of 2021.

MTN Ghana dominated the market in volume traded by 87.48% in the third quarter of 2021.