Government has decided to continue the hedging policy of crude oil when the current deal expires in July. At 82 dollars per barrel, the government purchased half of the total crude oil requirements for the country and was largely insulated from the volatile price hikes of the commodity on the international market. The commodity is currently being sold at $115 per barrel which means the country would not have to buy at the current going rate on the World market. Finance Minister, Dr. Kwabena Dufuor told Joy FM the policy has been extremely beneficial to government and will hedge again if the current one expires in July. He explained the hedging policy has played an instrumental role in the macro economic stability of the country. “We have to be strategic. We are still hedging 50 per cent come December. In economic management there must be a strategy. With the 50 per cent we have hedged, we have been restored as a country. “…If we had not gone in for the hedging the whole macro situation would not have been stabilized," he said. It is not however clear if the country would be hedging at the same price when the policy is renewed. Hedging does not however mean that petroleum prices will not go up again on the local market. It may fluctuate so long as the price on the world market is below the approved hedged price. Source: Joy News/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana