Business News of Thursday, 7 September 2017

Source: thefinderonline.com

BoG to raise GHC858m tomorrow

Dr. Ernest Addison, BoG Governor Dr. Ernest Addison, BoG Governor

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is expected to auction GH¢858 million in treasury securities comprising of GHC658 million short-term treasury securities (91-day, 182-day) and GHC200 million 2-year note to investors tomorrow September 8, 2017.

The short term securities are however expected to be issued on Monday, September 11. The yield is expected to remain relatively unchanged.

Business Finder gathers chunk of the funds will be used to settle maturing debts.

Meanwhile, short-term treasury yields continued to remain tight this week in a bid to boost interest in treasury securities, whose demand has been adversely affected by the downward trend in yields.

The yield on the 91-day bill rose marginally by 0.1 percent to 13.20 percent this week as against 12.19 percent last week while that of the 182-day bill moved up by 14bps to 14.07% this week versus 13.93 percent last week.

However, analysts believe this will be unsustainable over a-month period in light of lower inflation expectations. Inflation continues to reduce reaching 11.90 percent in July 2017.

Interestingly, the recovery in yields failed to significantly boost demand for treasury bills as fund managers continue to divert new funds into alternative assets offering higher yields.

In June and July 2017, government through the Bank of Ghana borrowed GH¢3.25 billion in notes and bonds respectively.

According to a circular, GH¢1.49 billion was realized from the issuance of 5-year fixed-rate notes with a yield of 18.25 percent. Interest payments were expected to be done half-yearly until maturity in July 25, 2022.

The 1-year notes were made up of GH¢491.7 million with a coupon rate of 15.0 and 15.50 percent respectively.

The 2-year notes and 3-year bonds were also made up of a total of GH¢164.3 million and GH¢1.09 billion respectively. The coupon rates were 17.0 and 18.50 percent respectively.

The fixed income securities were opened to both resident Ghanaians and non-resident Ghanaians. Expectedly, the interest payments will be done every half year till maturity.

Some of the funds were expected to be used to settle maturing debts and capital expenditure.