Ghana puts off oil hedging

ACCRA, August 31, 2018 – Ghana will delay plans to hedge against higher oil prices as the country first wants to investigate the causes of recent currency volatility, Deputy Minister of Finance Charles Adu Boahen told international media Thursday.

The decline of the cedi is affecting prices that consumers pay at retail stations more than international crude prices, the minister told Bloomberg. The national currency has lost 7% of its value so far in 2018.

“It won’t make sense to hedge when international prices don’t pose problems,” he said.

The economy of Ghana saw years of steady growth until an economic downturn that caused GDP growth to plummet from 8% in 2012 to 3.9% in 2015. The chief reasons for the decline can be attributed to external economic shocks and poor macroeconomic management.

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