Treasury News

The Government of Ghana Treasury bill rates have dropped drastically, with the 91-day treasury bill moving from 21.01 per cent to 18.53 per cent. The 162-day treasury bill moved from 23.19 per cent to 20.70 per cent and the one-year note is now 24 per cent from 27 per cent.

Meanwhile, the money market continues to be fairly liquid this week. The Association of Bankers Rate for the cedi against the dollar is ?8,724.73/?8,865.64. The euro is ?10,624.62/?10,791.60 and the pound sterling is ?15,076.33/?15,325.15.

The President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Abdullah al-Attiyah, said yesterday that he expected an oil surplus of 2.5 million barrels per day during the second quarter of 2004 which could prompt the cartel to cut suppliers. OPEC agreed at a meeting in Vienna on December 4 to keep oil output limits unchanged at 24.5 million barrels per day.

LIFFE cocoa traded lower on Friday but remained within the confines of nearby support and resistance, holding further support around ?927 a tonne. Futures closed lower on Friday under pressure from West African selling as future players anticipated the arrival of cocoa at Ivorian ports over the weekend.

Spot gold reached $408.00 an ounce in morning trade in Europe, its highest since early 1996, as traders reacted to a weak dollar and strong technical indicators for bullion.

The dollar fell three--year lows against the yen yesterday after last week’s weaker-than-expected US jobs data, but losses stayed in check as traders braced for possible Japanese intervention.

The dollar, which had plunged record lows against the euro for six consecutive trading days by Friday, also came within a tick of the latest lows in the absence of strong enough factors to turn around the dominant trend.

The dollar was quoted at $107.55/60 to the yen, hovering near the three-year low of 107.51.