Bank transaction hours reduced by one hour during Ramadan, capital market by half an hour

Bank and capital market transaction hours have been reduced on the occasion of the upcoming month of Ramadan. Bangladesh Bank said in a notice on Monday that transactions in banks during Ramadan will start at 9:30 instead of 10:00am and will continue until 2:30pm. While transactions are conducted until 4:00pm during normal times, they have been reduced by one hour during Ramadan.

The notice also said that there will be a prayer break from 1:15pm to 1:30pm. However, the central bank has instructed to keep transactions normal during this time through 'internal coordination'. Although transactions end at 2:30pm, banks will remain open for official work until 4pm. Banking activities will return to the previous schedule after Ramadan and Eid.

On the other hand, the country's main capital market, the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), said that transactions will start at 10:00am during Ramadan and will continue until 1:40pm. After that, a 10-minute post-closing session will be held. DSE office hours will be from 9am to 3:30pm. After the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday, office and trading hours will return to normal. During normal hours, trading in the capital market is from 10am to 2:30pm and offices are open from 9am to 4:30pm.

Meanwhile, from the beginning of Ramadan, government, semi-government, autonomous and semi-autonomous offices will operate from 9am to 3:30pm. During normal hours, government offices operate from 9am to 5pm. Ramadan may begin on February 18 or 19, depending on the sighting of the moon.