Banks remain open today, transactions till 3pm

Banks across Bangladesh remain open today, Saturday (May 23), ahead of the extended Eid-ul-Azha holidays, allowing customers to complete urgent financial transactions before the nationwide break begins.

Under instructions from Bangladesh Bank, all scheduled banks are operating today and will also remain open on Sunday as part of holiday adjustments.

According to the central bank, regular banking transactions can be carried out from 10:00am to 3:00pm, while banks will remain open until 5:00pm for administrative and ancillary activities.

The directive was recently issued by Bangladesh Bank’s Supervisory Data Management and Analytics Department (SDMAD).

All public and private banks will remain closed from May 25 to May 31 for the Eid holidays. However, limited banking services will continue in key industrial and trade zones to facilitate salary, bonus and allowance payments for workers in the ready-made garment sector, as well as to keep import-export activities running smoothly.

Under the arrangement, commercial bank branches linked to the garment industry in Dhaka metropolitan area, Ashulia, Tongi, Gazipur, Savar, Bhaluka, Narayanganj and Chattogram will remain operational on May 25 and 26 with enhanced security measures.

In addition, bank branches, sub-branches and booths located in seaports, land ports and airport areas will continue operating round-the-clock throughout the week. Bangladesh Bank has also instructed banks to maintain limited import-export related operations during the Eid holidays, excluding Eid day itself.

The central bank further said officials and employees assigned to duty during the holiday period will receive additional allowances in accordance with existing regulations.