Business community resents long bank holiday

After two months of lockdown, businesses have been reopened and with the advent of Eid, business activities have picked up sharply. However, banks have been closed for 6 days including on Friday due to which, business community was facing great problems in keeping cash in safe custody.

Therefore, Governor State Bank of Pakistan should order for an inquiry as to why the banks have been closed for 6 consecutive days in Pakistan. This demand was made by Muhammad Ahmed Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry in a statement.

Muhammad Ahmed Waheed further said that due to Eid, the trend of shopping in the markets was showing its peak as billions of rupees were being spent on doing daily shopping.

Under these circumstances, how would the business community keep its cash received from sales in safe condition due to the closure of banks and if they keep cash with themselves, there was a danger of theft and robbery, he said. He said it was not a wise decision to keep the banks closed for 6 consecutive days and if any untoward incident happened to traders, SBP will be held responsible.

ICCI President appealed to the Advisor on Finance Dr. Hafeez Sheikh to investigate the matter as to who ordered to keep the banks closed in the country for six days, especially at a time when Pakistan's economy was suffering badly due to Covid-19 pandemic as our country could not afford to keep banks closed in this crucial time.