Businesses concerned over closure of banks amid restrictions
Exporters, importers and local enterprises today said they will face severe challenges in daily transactions during the seven-day closure starting from tomorrow when their factories will open but banks will be kept closed.
"We need clearances from banks concerned at the ports both for releasing imported goods and for exports. Since, banks have announced closure from tomorrow, definitely our transactions will be hampered," said Anwar ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, president of Bangladesh Chamber of Industries.
They expressed their concern as the central bank yesterday instructed all banks—except for the authorised dealer branches and the ones at the ports—to keep their doors shut during the countrywide restrictions on movement to keep coronavirus at bay.
The factory owners need to buy a lot of raw materials everyday so they need to transact money to make payments to their clients, Parvez added.
Since the factories have been kept open for operations, the businessmen will also have to withdraw money for paying the transport bills, he said.
"If the banks are kept closed, businesses will surely face challenges," said Parvez, also the former president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
"Ensuring the safety of our workers is our main priority now. We should follow the instructions strictly given by the government while running the factories. We will sit with the government or Bangladesh Bank on Sunday or Monday with the plea to make banking transactions easier during lockdown," said Faruque Hassan, the newly elected president of BGMEA.
Tomorrow is Pahela Baishakh, a public holiday, and Friday and Saturday are weekends for banks.
Businesses, which serve the domestic market, also expressed their concern, saying the closure of most of the branches of banks will affect their transactions and payments to the suppliers of essential commodities and raw materials.
The executives say industries will not be able to function properly without banking support as big companies usually do transactions through banking systems.
Kamruzzaman Kamal, director for marketing of Pran-RFL Group, said closure of most of the branches of banks will create difficulty in clearing payments to the suppliers of raw materials to continue production in factories.
Companies will also need to pay the transporters to ship goods from one place to another, he said.
Shaheen Khan, chief executive officer at Gemcon Food and Agricultural Products Ltd, which operates supermarket retail chain Meena Bazar, said the company issues cheques to its suppliers.
"Our suppliers may face liquidity shortage as it will not be possible for them to encash the cheques into money because of the closure of banks."
Kabir Ahmed, president of Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association, echoed the views of Parvez.
Ahmed also said at least one or two branches from each area should have been kept open to facilitate the transactions, especially for import and export.
During such a critical time, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) introduced a ticketing system today for goods laden trucks for their entrance and exit from the cargo village, Ahmed said, citing a recent circular of the CAAB.
"It will create a lot of troubles in the already troubled cargo village at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport."
In yesterday's circular, the BB asked banks to keep open their branches, sub-branches and booths located in areas within land and sea ports and airports through discussions with the customs and port authorities.
The notice by the cabinet division, however, said the factories could be kept open by ensuring compliance with health guidelines.
In order to provide services at the open outlets, banks can maintain the required number of authorised dealer branches, which provide foreign exchange related services, including those that facilitate export and import activities.
This means a limited number of authorised dealer branches can be kept open while the restrictions are in force.
Moreover, people can withdraw money from automated teller machines and conduct internet banking during the period, according to a notice of the BB.