Govt decides to keep banks open after mass confusion
Khaza Hasan Chisty, a small business owner, yesterday spent a lot more than one hour around noon at the Tejgaon branch of Dutch-Bangla Bank in the capital to withdraw cash in order that he does not face any liquidity shortage during the hard lockdown beginning with today.
He got a serial number of 40 as there is an enormous crowd at the branch after the government ordered banks to close during the lockdown period between midnight of April 14 and the morning of April 21.
Although the clients had placed on a face mask to avoid themselves from the coronavirus, it had been not enough to keep medical protocol given the huge crowd, said Chisty.
"I was terrified of the crowd, but there is no scope to avoid visiting the lender as I must keep adequate cash in my hand through the lockdown period when banks will stay close," he said.
Like Chisty, thousand of others rushed to banks aswell, after both the central bank and the federal government on April 12 ordered banks to keep all branches close from Wednesday, as the country has tightened measures to curb the spread of the virus.
In the afternoon, the government and the central bank backtracked from the stance, saying some branches will stay open through the restriction period.
Albeit a relief, the late decision frustrated Chisty.
"The authorities must have taken the decision several days ago to dispel confusion among the commoners whether banks would remain open or not."
Crowding in a tiny space creates risks in lots of folds to spread the deadly flu, he said.
As per the new decision, clients will be permitted to do banking from 10:00 am to at least one 1:00 pm. Branches should be closed by 2.30 pm after completing regular procedures.
Authorised dealer (AD) branches that carry out international transactions, including those for exports and imports, will operate as usual.
If any AD branch is not obtainable in a radius of two kilometres in city corporation areas, a non-AD branch, which is focused on operating general banking, should be kept open.
Banks could keep their main branch in the district town open aswell.
The branches in upazilas will open the doors for the customers on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The central bank had been in a fix on setting opening hours after the government declared the restrictions on movement on a restricted scale on April 4.
On the day, the banking regulator said clients could settle financial transactions from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm on regular working days.
On April 11, the BB extended the banking hours by half an hour for April 12 and 13 as clients rushed to banks to withdraw funds, apprehending that branches might remain closed during the strict restriction.
Suddenly, the central bank extended the banking hours to 3 pm for yesterday so that clients could withdraw funds smoothly. It created confusion among people.
Salehuddin Ahmed, a former governor of the central bank, said there have been too little policy coordination between the central bank and the government.
"The government should have handed over the duty to the central bank to decide on banks opening hours," he said.
"The central bank must have declared a clear instruction two or three days ago to the end."
