Assurance to clear soon the government proposal for dollar-denominated trading was given at a meeting between finance and civil supplies ministry officials here on Tuesday, consumer affairs and civil supplies secretary NN Mookherjee said.

Forward Markets Commission (FMC) chairman Vijay Agarwal was also present at the meeting.

The meeting was held to clarify certain points raised by finance ministry officials to allow trading in dollar at the pepper exchange.

"Finance ministry permission to allow dollar denominated trading is expected in the next few days," Mookherjee said.

The permission to allow trading in dollar at the pepper exchange is expected to boost its trading volume.

The government had already cleared dollar-denominated trading for the proposed international castoroil exchange to be set up inMumbai soon.

The clearance was given in mid-September and following this, it was presumed that similar facility for the pepper bourse was a formality.

The international pepper bourse has especially been hit due to poor participation of foreign agencies.

Expectation of government allowing trading in dollar led to a company in the Netherlands becoming a member of the exchange.

The pepper exchange is averaging a turnover of about 600 tonnes a day, though turnover at the domestic pepper bourse, in existence for over four decades, has been increasing steadily.

Allowing trading in dollar is expected to pave an easy way for repatriation of profits by foreign players in the exchange.

Initially, government allowed trading in rupee only at the exchange.

Following the poor trade turnover and lukewarm overseas participation, the Indian Pepper and Spices Trading Associations (Ipsta), which runs the exchange, asked government to allow trading in dollar.

Ipsta has also subsequently got amended certainbylaws of the exchange to improve the turnover.

Industry officials feel the turnover at the exchange would pick up automatically once the current global recession is over.