Mr. Isaac Kwasi Mensah, a Financial Analyst and Portfolio Manager at SIC Financial Services Limited, has bemoaned the persistent weakening of the cedi against the dollar, noting that the situation is driving foreign investors away from investing in the country.
Mr. Kwasi Mensah made this known in an interview with the Vaultz News regarding the dire effects of the persistent depreciation of the cedi on investment on the local bourse. This, he said is having an impact on the investment fortunes in the country.
“Now, it is very difficult talking about the cedi because the situation is alarming. The position of the cedi as the worst performer in the world is driving foreign investors away from the country. This is because profit taking investors need more of the cedi to buy the dollar. The situation further leads to the shrinking of their profits. So you see, no rational investor will be willing to do business in such environment.”
Mr. Isaac Kwasi Mensah
Meanwhile, in the stock market, Mr. Kwasi Mensah said he expects the bearish sentiment, which ruled the past week, to continue in this week. “I expect the muted performance recorded last week to be the broader theme of this week’s trading session”.
“The global slowdown prospects, highlighted by the International Monetary Fund, inflicted losses on most international markets, with GSE following suit in a conspicuously quiet trading session during last week. The outlook is not favorable for Ghana stocks unless some news changes the mood of investors ahead of what is generally seen as a tough period with all hopes hanging in the balance.”
Mr. Isaac Kwasi Mensah
Meanwhile, the cedi is not showing any sign of recovery and it seems bent on seeing the bottom of the valley in the street where many believe its real value is properly weighed up and measured. In the streets of Accra that is sampled for how much cedi you need to cough up for the dollar, the words of many forex bearaux was that you should make sure you stuff your wallet with GH¢14.6 if you want to get just a dollar.
Activity on the Ghana Stock Exchange
Taking a snapshot of the weekly activity on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), the local bourse general index closed the week at 2,365.89 points, shedding 58.39 from previous week of 2419.28 points.
At the end of the final weekday of trading on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), a total of 118,084 shares, corresponding to a market value of GHS 1,603,073.90, were traded. Compared with the previous GSE trading day, the data showed 51 percent decline in volume and 19 percent decline in turnover.
In total, the local bourse ended the week with 14 GSE listed equities participating in trading, ending with one loser, namely NewGold ETF, with 3.5 percent share price depreciation.
MTN Ghana recorded the highest volume of 104,128 traded shares, followed by NewGold ETF (6,038), Total Petroleum Ghana (4,966) and Benso Oil Palm Plantation (2,000).
In the intervening time, the current market capitalization of the Ghana Stock Exchange is GHS 63.6 billion.
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