The Bangladesh Bank has changed the daily timings for interbank cheque clearing as coronavirus lockdown extended until 14 July.

In a notification to the scheduled banks Wednesday, the central bank said the new timing, with the high-value clearing cheques (Tk5 lakh and above) presentment until 12pm, will be effective on Thursday.

Previously, the presentment deadline of such cheques was 11:30am as the banks have been transacting on a limited scale amid a countrywide lockdown from 1 July.

With the week-long movement curbs extended by another seven days, the new settlement timing for the high-value clearing cheques through the automated cheque processing systems has been set at 1.30pm, said the notification.

For the regular value cheque clearing, the presentment time has also been extended by half an hour to 12:30pm.           

The timing for real time gross settlement will be 10am to 2:30pm. However, payment of customs duties, fees, charges and interbank transactions will be available until 3:30 pm.

The notification said the new cheque clearing timing will be effective until further notice. The Bangladesh Electronic Funds Transfer Network (BEFTN) service will remain unchanged.  

Banks and financial institutions are open on a limited extent to curb the coronavirus spread. Banks and financial institutions will be closed on Sunday too along with previous Friday and Saturday every week during the movement curbs.

In another circular, the central bank Thursday said financial institutions will remain open from 10am to 3pm. Until now, the institutions were open until 2:30pm amid the movement curbs.

The circular said maximum two branches of a financial institution will be open to provide emergency financial services to the clients. Of the two branches, one in Dhaka and one outside of the capital will be providing the services.