Businessmen for keeping banks open July 2-4

Businessmen today demanded all scheduled commercial banks to remain open from July 2 to 4 ensuring safe deposit of their money during Eid holiday.

The businessmen want to deposit their money in the banks before Eid as they feel it would be safe, Abdul Matlub Ahmad, president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), told journalists at a press briefing at his office this morning.

They came up with the demand as Bangladesh Bank issued two separate circulars, one which says that the banks will remain closed on Monday July 4, instead of Saturday July 16, which is usually a weekly holiday.

With July 4's bank holiday, BB and all other banks will go on 9-day Eid holiday starting July 1.

However, certain branches of banks that are in the industrial zones at Dhaka, Ashulia, Tongi, Gazipur, Savar, Narayanganj, Chittagong, Comilla, Mymensingh and Tangail will remain open on July 2 and 3 with adequate security measures, for the sake of paying wages, bonus and other allowances to workers, the central bank said.

Meanwhile, the holidays on account of the Shab-e-Qadr and Eid-ul Fitr and the weekly holidays totals 8 days. So the government, in an executive order, has announced July 4 as a holiday.

The extra holiday will be adjusted by keeping July 16 as a working day.