KEY INSIGHTS – MAY 2025

● At its 124th meeting (21–23 May 2025), the MPC kept the policy rate at 28.0% and, effective 5 June, amended the Dynamic Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) to require banks to hold reserves in the same currency as their deposits. (Bank of Ghana, 2025)

● Yields on Ghana's government bills fell: the 91-day bill dropped by 43.84 basis points to 14.79%, the 182-day bill by 29.90 basis points to 15.49%, and the 364-day bill by 104.62 basis points to 15.91%.

● GOG bond yields reflected a steep decline across most tenors, particularly in the long end of the curve, with the 11-year bond falling by 330 basis points. The only upward movement was observed in the 5-year bond, which rose by 58 basis points. This divergence may signal a rebalancing of investor preferences toward medium-term securities amid changing macroeconomic expectations.

● In the Ghana Stock Exchange, SIC Insurance PLC (SIC) leads with a 44% monthly gain in price per share, followed by Access Bank PLC (ACCESS) at 22% and Ecobank Ghana PLC (EGH) at 10%. In contrast, Calbank Ghana PLC (CAL), Scancom PLC (MTNGH), and NewGold Issuer PLC (GLD) saw declines of 11%, 1%, and 22%, respectively.

● The Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index (GSE-CI) and Financial Stocks Index (FSI) posted of 0.92% monthly gain and 3.37% monthly gain, respectively.

● The Ghana Gold Coin experienced a notable decline in value across all denominations. The one and half ounce coins each recorded a 27% decrease, while the 0.25 oz coin saw a 26% drop compared to the previous month.

PRIMARY DEBT MARKET ISSUANCE

The Government of Ghana's (GoG) Treasury bill interest rates posted bearish performance across all tenors in May 2025 as shown in the table below.

Source(s): Bank of Ghana

GHANA FIXED INCOME MARKET VOLUME TRADED

The Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM) saw a declined in activity, with total trades easing by 26.8%% to reach 34,431 transactions. However, the total traded volume surged by 4.53%, amounting to GH₵17.99 billion compared to the GH₵17.21 billion posted in April 2025. The volume and total trading activity on the GFIM peaked at GH₵4.8 billion in the last week of May (22nd week of the year).

Treasury bills dominated the trading landscape, accounting for a significant 97.32% (33,509) of total trades, 28.07% decrease compared to the 46,586 total trades posted in April 2025.

Total Traded Volume by Security

Yield Curve – May 2025

EQUITY MARKET

Trading activity on the local exchange saw a total of 34,534,543 shares traded in May, valued at approximately GH₵144.18 million. This represents a 50.97% increase in volume compared to April’s 22,875,399 shares. Despite the higher volume, the total value of trades declined slightly from GH₵144.90 million recorded in April. Meanwhile, market capitalization rose marginally by 0.42%, increasing from GH₵135.97 billion to GH₵136.55 billion.

Daily Total Shares Traded, Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index (GSE-CI), Market Cap GHS (B), and Financial Stock Index (FSI)

Monthly Gainers & Laggards

COMMODITY MARKET

The commodity market had a mixed performance in May. Brent crude oil experienced moderate fluctuations, starting at $62.13 per barrel, surged to $66.62, and closing at $63.90, marking a 1.24% monthly gain amid shifting supply-demand dynamics.

Gold posted significant volatility from a softer US dollar, peaked at $3,335.4, rallying from $3,210/t.oz to $3,288.9/t.oz, posting a 0.49% marginal decline as investors sought safe-haven assets.

Cocoa prices exhibited significant volatility, starting at approximately $8,973 per tonne, the price fluctuated considerably, reaching a high of about $10,974 around mid-May before stabilizing back to $9,791 by the end of the month, showing a 7.27% gain month-on-month.

Daily Prices of Commodities in May 2025

CURRENCY MARKET

This month's currency market overview reveals a consistent appreciation of the Ghanaian cedi (GHS) against major currencies as shown below.

Source(s): Bank of Ghana