Debt, equity holdings by foreign investors on GSE hit GHS 38bn
Foreign investors’ debt holdings on the Ghana Stock Exchange [GSE] increased to GHS 31.7 billion at the end of December 2021.
This compares to the GHS 28.8 billion recorded at end-December 2020.
The value of foreign investors’ equity holdings also increased to GHS 6.32 billion at end-December 2021, from GHS 4.82 billion at end-December 2020.
Per the 2022 Financial Stability Review report, the increase in debt holdings by foreign investors, was attributable to the rise in prices of equities on the domestic market, partially owing to the stock market recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Total value of government debt securities hit GHS 152.72bn
The total value of Government of Ghana (GoG) and corporate debt securities outstanding increased in 2021, as compared to the previous year.
The total value of GoG and corporate debt securities outstanding as of the end of 2021 were GHS 152.72 billion and GHS 31.36 billion respectively, compared to GHS 120.69 billion GoG and GHS 27.07 billion corporate bonds outstanding in the previous year.
This represents an increase of 26.5% and 15.9% for GoG and corporate bonds, respectively.
The market share of outstanding securities for GoG and corporates was 83.0% and 17.3% respectively in 2021. This is compared to 81.7% and 18.3% respectively in the previous year.
Meanwhile, total assets value of Ghana’s financial sector amounted to GHS 260.43 billion at the end of 2021.
The financial sectr comprise the banking, pensions, securities and insurance sectors which are regulated by the Bank of Ghana (BoG), National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and National Insurance Commission (NIC) respectively.
The recorded GHS 260.43bn total assets value marked an increase of GHS 47.08bn when compared to the GHS 213.35bn total assets value recorded at end-2020.
Per the Central Bank’s 2021 Financial Stability Review report, the GHS 260.43bn total assets value accounted for 59.1% of GDP.
According to the Central Bank, assets size growth was broad based with the Securities Industry (excluding pension funds) recording the highest growth rate of 77.4 per cent, a strong rebound after the contraction experienced in 2020.
The insurance and banking industries followed with a growth rate of 29.4 per cent and 19.7 per cent respectively, while the pensions sector grew by 18.2 per cent. At end-December 2021, total financial assets to GDP increased by 3.5 percentage points to 59.1 per cent.
“Growth in total assets to GDP in the review year can be attributed to the benefits of the various cleanup reforms within the financial sector as well as the effective regulatory overview of the financial sector by Financial Stability Council,” said the report.
For the review period, the Central Bank asserts that, the financial system showed resilience on the back of strong capital and profits by players in the financial services sector.
Nonetheless, rising sovereign debt and inflation from the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it says, poses some risks to the financial sector.
“Strict monitoring by financial regulators on developments within their sector and timely policy prescriptions are necessary to mitigate these risks,” the report stated.
“In the outlook, it is expected that the financial sector’s stability and resilience will be maintained on the back of the strong performance of the financial sector in the
year under review,” it added.
