Banks to operate from 9am to 3pm

The government has fixed new working hours for banks from 9:00am to 3:00pm starting from Wednesday.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday.

Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam briefed the reporters about the decision after the meeting at the Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka.

To save electricity the government also decided to set office hours from 8:00am to 3:00pm, for all government, semi-government, autonomous and semi-autonomous institutions from Wednesday.

Besides, the cabinet set a two-day weekly holiday for the educational institutions.

In the meeting, the cabinet also directed to ensure uninterrupted power supply to facilitate irrigation for aman cultivation from midnight to dawn.

The government raised energy prices as much as 52 per cent earlier this month. The unprecedented fuel prices pushed up the cost of nearly everything on the market. Transport fare was also raised in response to the rising cost of fuel.

The government cited volatility in the global market due to the Russia-Ukraine war for the hike. Ministers said the hike was necessary to ease pressure on the foreign currency reserves by cutting subsidies.