T-bills yields dropped in 2020 – BoG

The Central Bank at its Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Monday, February 1, 2021 maintained the policy rate at 14.5 per cent.

The Governor Ernest Addison said: “The 91-day declined to 14.1 per cent in December 2020 from 14.7 per cent last year, and the 182-day Treasury bill rate fell to 14.1 per cent from 15.2 per cent over the same comparative period”.

On the secondary bond market, Dr Addison said “yields on 6-year, 7-year, 10-year, and 15-year bonds all declined”.

“The rates on the 20-year bond, however, inched up marginally to 22.3 per cent in December 2020 relative to 22.1 per cent in December 2019,” he noted. 

The weighted average interbank rate, he added, “declined to 13.6 per cent from 15.2 per cent, reflecting the reduction in the monetary policy rate in March 2020, and improved liquidity conditions on the market”.

“Similarly, average lending rates of banks declined to 21.1 per cent in December 2020 from 23.6 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2019, consistent with the monetary policy stance,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana’s updated Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) recorded an annual growth of 11.9 per cent in November 2020, compared with 3.4 per cent growth a year ago.

"The key drivers of economic activity during the period were construction, port activity, imports, manufacturing, and credit to the private sector," the BoG report stated.