- GFIM Turnover Climbs to GH¢968.22mn as Treasury Bills Dominate Trading
Ghana’s fixed-income market turnover climbed to GH¢968.22 million on Wednesday, September 16, as Treasury bills dominated trading and investors continued to concentrate activity in short-dated government instruments.
Data from the Ghana Fixed Income Market show total turnover of GH¢968.22 million across 335 trades, up from about GH¢883.18 million in the previous session, an increase of roughly 9.6%.
Treasury bills accounted for GH¢624.64 million, equivalent to 64.5% of total market turnover, making them the clear centre of liquidity during the session. DDEP bonds followed with GH¢175.82 million, or 18.2%, while sell/buy-back transactions in government securities contributed GH¢157.23 million, representing another 16.2%.
Together, Treasury bills, DDEP securities and sell/buy-back transactions generated about GH¢957.69 million, or almost 99% of all activity, leaving relatively little turnover in conventional government bonds and corporate debt.
The dominance was even more pronounced when measured by transaction count. Treasury bills accounted for 283 of the market’s 335 trades, or about 84.5%, reinforcing their role as the most actively traded instruments on the secondary market.
The concentration underscores the continued preference for instruments offering shorter duration and established secondary-market liquidity as investors manage cash against a backdrop of lower short-term yields and changing expectations across Ghana’s interest-rate environment.
Within the Treasury-bill segment, 364-day instruments generated GH¢338.63 million, or 54.2% of all T-bill turnover. The 91-day segment accounted for GH¢174.83 million, while 182-day bills contributed GH¢111.18 million.
The most actively traded individual security was the 91-day bill maturing on December 14, 2026, which recorded GH¢169.77 million across 59 transactions. It closed at a yield of approximately 4.78% and a price of GH¢98.85.
That single instrument represented more than 27% of Treasury-bill turnover and about 17.5% of the entire GFIM session, making it the market’s largest outright transaction concentration.
The 182-day bill maturing March 15, 2027 was another major centre of activity, with GH¢108.28 million traded across seven transactions. It closed at a yield of about 6.42% and a price of GH¢96.92.
Among 364-day instruments, the April 5, 2027 maturity led trading with GH¢91.91 million across two transactions and closed at a yield of about 6.98%. Other significant volumes included GH¢53.59 million in the February 1, 2027 maturity and GH¢45.43 million in the August 2, 2027 bill.
The distribution of activity across maturities also illustrates the progression in yields along the Treasury-bill curve. Securities closer to maturity were generally trading at lower yields, while longer-dated instruments offered progressively higher returns as investors committed funds further along the maturity spectrum.
DDEP bonds remained the second-largest outright securities category, recording GH¢175.82 million across 18 trades.
The February 15, 2028 DDEP bond carrying an 8.50% coupon was the most active security in that segment, generating GH¢68.39 million across four trades. The bond closed at a yield of 12.02% and a price of GH¢95.50, accounting for almost 39% of total DDEP turnover.
The February 8, 2033 DDEP bond recorded GH¢50 million in a single outright trade and closed at a yield of 14.22% and a price of approximately GH¢79.50. The February 7, 2034 instrument added GH¢16.70 million, while the August 15, 2028 bond recorded GH¢23.60 million.
Activity in sell/buy-back transactions was also substantial at GH¢157.23 million across only 12 trades, showing that a relatively small number of transactions accounted for a sizeable portion of market turnover.
The February 8, 2033 DDEP bond dominated that segment with GH¢116.42 million across three transactions at a weighted yield of 12%. It alone represented about 74% of sell/buy-back turnover. The February 6, 2035 bond followed with GH¢38.71 million across two transactions.
Trading in newly issued Government of Ghana bonds remained comparatively modest. The four-year bond maturing September 2, 2030 generated GH¢3.93 million across seven transactions, closing at a yield of 11.59% and a price of GH¢101.26.
There was no recorded turnover in the seven-year new government bond, while old Government of Ghana notes and bonds generated only GH¢168,800 across four trades.
Corporate bond turnover was similarly thin at GH¢6.44 million, equivalent to less than 1% of the entire session.
All reported corporate activity was concentrated in COCOBOD securities. The August 28, 2028 bond recorded GH¢3.56 million across four trades and closed at GH¢103.33, while the August 30, 2027 bond generated GH¢2.88 million across seven transactions and closed at GH¢102.18.
The contrast between corporate debt and government securities remains significant. While companies and state-linked issuers can use the bond market to raise longer-term capital, secondary-market liquidity remains overwhelmingly concentrated in sovereign instruments, limiting the depth available to investors seeking corporate exposure.
The September 16 session therefore reinforced the segmented nature of GFIM liquidity. Short-term government paper remained the principal destination for outright trading, DDEP bonds continued to provide depth in the restructured sovereign market, and sell/buy-back transactions supplied another substantial source of activity.
By contrast, conventional government bonds and corporate securities remained peripheral despite overall turnover moving close to the GH¢1 billion mark.
For investors, the trading pattern suggests liquidity remains concentrated rather than broadly distributed across the yield curve. Treasury bills provide frequent turnover and shorter exposure, while DDEP instruments continue to offer higher yields further along the maturity spectrum.
The next test will be whether turnover remains close to GH¢1 billion and whether liquidity gradually broadens into new government and corporate bonds.
For now, the September 16 pattern is clear: Treasury bills remain the anchor of Ghana’s secondary fixed-income market, commanding almost two-thirds of turnover and more than four-fifths of transactions while longer-duration and corporate securities compete for a much smaller share of daily liquidity.
