Accra, June 23, GNA - The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Peter Peperah on Friday appealed to the Bank of Ghana to workout modalities for beneficiaries of remittances from foreign countries through local banks to be paid in hard cash instead of cedis.

Mr Peperah said this during a working visit to some shops around Abossey Okai, Kantamanto and the railway station to find out about business activities after the industrial action Ghana Union Traders' Association (GUTA). He said the present situation whereby the banks pay recipients of such transfers cedis instead of foreign currency creates the development of a parallel market that leads to exchange rates soaring. The deputy minister said the rising exchange rate accounts for the high cost of goods.

Members of GUTA in Accra late last month went on a one-week strike in protest against the rapid depreciation of the cedi against major foreign currencies and the introduction of a 20.5 per cent special tax by government on certain imported items.

The association explained that the imposition of the tax was uncalled for because prices of local products that the tax is meant to protect are higher than the imported items. Mr Peperah, explaining to the traders the rational behind the introduction of the Special Tax, said government intends to protect local products and to promote the sale of Made-in-Ghana Goods.

"Any time that one patronises foreign goods we are expanding the job market of that country to the detriment of our local industries." The Traders said their main problem is the fluctuation of the rate of the cedi and appealed to the government to create the enabling environment for small-scale industries to grow.

The traders said between last year and now prices of goods have shoot up by over 60 percent and this has affected their capital with some of them being thrown out of job.