The planned closure of shops by members of eight trader groups in the Ashanti Region has been put on hold as the leadership of the groups says the cedi is beginning to pick up against other currencies.

The traders suspended imports for a week to protest the continuous depreciation of the cedi against the Dollar and the CFA.

The Bank of Ghana interbank rate has the cedi trading at GHS13 to the dollar.

The cedi has been the worst currency this year, losing about 50 percent of its value to the dollar.

The traders who import and sell clothes and wares say the unstable nature of the exchange rate is collapsing their businesses and also dwindling their capital.

The Deputy Secretary of the Kumasi Importers and Traders Association, Nana Yaw Owusu Agyemang, said the traders will still monitor the performance of the cedi against the Dollar and CFA to decide their next line of action.

“From our investigation, we have leant that the cedi is improving due to our sit-down strike. So actually we should have closed our shops today, but due to the appreciation of the cedi, we decided not to close our shops.”

“We are all folding our hands and praying that by the close of this week, the cedi will appreciate and right itself against the foreign currencies and the currencies that we use. So this week, we are continuing with our sit-down strike, but we are not closing our shops,” Mr. Agyemang said to Citi News.