Staff Reporter :
The central bank has instructed the banks of the country to continue operating from 10 am to 2 pm on a limited scale in line with the extended lockdown guidelines enforced till 23 May.
However, the bankers have to stay in the office till 3.30 pm to complete the post-transaction activities as before according to the new circular issued by the Department of Offsite Supervision (DOS) of Bangladesh Bank.
Aside from the extension announcement, the circular instructed the banks to
follow the unchanged guidelines previously issued on 13 April.
In a circular on 13 April, the central bank said bank headquarters, authorized dealer branches, and district-level head offices will remain open during the movement restrictions.
Also, one branch (if the authorised dealer branch is not open) will remain open every two kilometres in city corporation areas. At the Upazila level, a single branch of a bank will remain open on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
Apart from this, branches, sub-branches, and bank booths in the vicinity of sea, land, and airports will remain open. Port authorities and local administration are to take appropriate measures in enforcing health safety guidelines.
The Bangladesh Bank instructed banks to continue operations with a limited workforce and to ensure transport for bank staff.
On 22 April, the central bank said if banks are unable to arrange transportation for their staff, they are to pay a travel allowance to their staff. The banks were told to pay the allowances on account of the additional travel costs due to movement restrictions.
They also instructed banks to keep enough cash in ATM booths and the daily withdrawal limit from ATMs has been increased from Tk50,000 to Tk1 lakh.
Mobile banking agent points were also instructed to keep a sufficient amount of cash.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Bank’s Financial Institutions and Markets department has directed the non-banking financial institutions to operate on a limited scale till 23 May except national and weekly holidays in compliance with the health rules.
According to the directive, the concerned branches of non-banking financial institutions will be open from 10 am to 2 pm to provide emergency financial services such as loan instalments and delivering cash deposits on maturity. However, a total of two branches, one in Dhaka and one outside Dhaka, will be allowed to keep open.
