Bangladesh banking hours to return to normal ahead of Eid

Banking hours are set to revert to normal for a few days after the government decided to relax the lockdown restrictions ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha holidays.

Customers will be able to conduct bank transactions from 10 am and 4 pm on Jul 15, 18 and 19, the central bank announced on Tuesday.

For post-transaction work, the banks can operate until 6 pm on the final three working days ahead of the Eid break.

Earlier in the day, the government announced that the ongoing lockdown curbs would be lifted for 9 days from midnight on Jul 14 to allow people to celebrate the Eid-ul-Azha, despite record numbers of new COVID-19 cases and deaths.

The transaction time at banks will once again be reduced once the strict lockdown restrictions are re-imposed after Eid.

Currently, banks are handling customer transactions between 10 am and 2:30 pm. During the lockdown, banks were also ordered to remain closed on Sundays but an exception is being made for next week due to the Eid rush.

The central bank has said that the branches of scheduled banks facilitating garment industry transactions in Dhaka, Ashulia, Tongi, Gazipur, Savar, Bhaluka, Narayanganj and Chattogram will remain open on Jul 19 and 20. During these two days, the transaction time will span from 10 am to 2 pm.

According to Bangladesh Bank, banks will be open from 10 am to 1:30 pm from Jul 25 to Aug 5 when the strict lockdown restrictions resume. The banks can operate until 3 pm for other post-transaction activities.