Karachi: The State Bank of Pakistan is back to the five-day working schedule less than a month after following the decision of the federal government that obliged all government institutions to observe a six-days working week on April 13.
#SBP will observe following working days and office timings which shall also be followed by all banks: Monday to Thursday: 09:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Friday: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m pic.twitter.com/udpMHLhYb0— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) May 6, 2022
However, on Friday, revising its office timings, the State Bank of Pakistan issued a notification and announced that it would be open from Monday to Thursday from 9 am till 5:30 pm, with a prayer/lunch break from 1:30 pm to 2:15 pm. Whereas, on Fridays, the office hours will be from 9 am. to 6:00 pm with a prayer/lunch break from 1 pm to 2:30 pm.
“Banks/Microfinance Banks (MFBs) may prescribe business (banking) hours for public dealing as per their business requirements provided the business (banking) hours observed by the field offices of SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP-BSC) are complied with as a minimum benchmark for this purpose,” the notification said.
It further advised that in order to ensure the availability of basic banking facilities to the business community and public at large, banks/MFBs may open their selected branches situated in major cities/business centres/commercial markets and hubs/ports even on Saturdays as per their business requirements. The collection booths of banks located at Custom Houses/Ports shall remain open 24/7 as per existing practice.
“However, banks/MFBs shall submit a complete list of branches that will be opened on Saturdays to the Banking Policy & Regulations Department and also place the updated list of such branches on their websites. For the information of customers, banks/MFBs shall prominently display in the concerned branch that this branch will remain open on Saturdays,” the notification added.
