- GFIM turnover rises 18% as new government bond trades surge
Trading on the Ghana Fixed Income Market strengthened in the week ended April 2, with total turnover rising to GH¢7.72bn, up 18.22% from GH¢6.53bn the previous week, as activity in new Government of Ghana bonds surged and corporate securities volumes more than doubled.
The biggest driver of the weekly increase was the market for new GoG bonds, where traded volume jumped to GH¢2.49bn from GH¢335.3m, a sharp 642.54% increase. That rebound more than offset a mild decline in treasury bill trading, where turnover slipped 2.24% to GH¢3.64bn, and a much steeper 39.60% fall in SBB trades to GH¢1.46bn. Corporate securities also recorded a strong week, with volumes rising to GH¢136.1m from GH¢61.8m, representing a 120.19% increase.
The weekly pattern suggests investor interest rotated back towards longer-dated sovereign instruments, even as bills remained the single largest component of turnover. Within the new bond segment, the heaviest activity was concentrated in the 9-year tenor, which recorded GH¢1.24bn in trades, followed by the 4-year at GH¢579.2m and the 8-year at GH¢361.5m. The 7-year and 5-year papers also saw meaningful activity, while no trades were recorded in tenors from 10 years to 15 years during the week.
Yield movements were mixed. The 4-year yield rose to 10.67% from 9.52%, while the 6-year edged up to 10.66% from 10.31% and the 7-year increased to 12.73% from 12.48%. But the 5-year yield fell sharply to 9.10% from 11.05%, and the 9-year eased to 12.52% from 12.78%. The 10-year held steady at 11.86%, while the 11-year to 15-year segment was broadly unchanged, suggesting that most of the repricing pressure remained concentrated in the belly of the curve rather than the far long end.
For the market, the week’s trading points to renewed appetite for post-DDEP sovereign paper, especially around the mid-curve, at a time when investors continue to balance yield pickup against duration risk. The sharp rise in new bond turnover also indicates that liquidity remains available for government securities even as trading in SBB instruments cools from the previous week’s levels.
The rise in corporate securities turnover is also notable. Although still small relative to sovereign and bill volumes, the move suggests improving participation beyond government paper and may offer an early indication of a market gradually broadening out after a period in which fixed-income trading has remained overwhelmingly sovereign-led.
For investors heading into the new week, the key signal is clear: the fixed-income market remains active, but flows are becoming more selective. Bills still dominate in absolute terms, yet the latest session showed that when confidence and pricing align, demand for longer-dated government bonds can re-emerge quickly.
