5-day general vacation: Banks to be open for 2 hrs a day

Banks across the country will be open for a couple of hours every working day, although the government has declared a 5-day general vacation nationwide to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The Bangladesh Bank issued a circular on Tuesday asking all scheduled banks to provide customers with cash withdrawal and deposit facilities only from their branches from March 29 to April 2.

Cash transactions can be made from 10am to 12 noon every working day so that people can withdraw money for their daily expenses, and depositors can keep their cash in the bank, said the central bank spokesperson Md Serajul Islam.

However, bankers will have to work from for 10am to 1:30pm.

The central bank circular also said a necessary number of online banks should be operated in an area, considering the distance between one branch and the other.

Besides, all offline branches will remain open for cash withdrawal and deposit facilities only, while authorised dealer branches can be opened only for emergency foreign transaction.

Md Serajul Islam, who is also an executive director of the Bangladesh Bank, said all bankers do not need to be present at the workplace.

"Only cash-related employees will have to work at branches. Others can work from home," he added.