Dhaka, Oct 19 (V7N) – Scheduled banks across the country will remain closed for five consecutive days from tomorrow to October 24 on the occasion of Durga Puja and the weekly holidays.
The holidays will include Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, October 20-22, for Durga Puja, followed by the regular weekly holidays on Friday and Saturday, October 23 and 24, according to a Bangladesh Bank (BB) circular.
The central bank's Supervisory Data Management and Analytics Department issued the circular to managing directors and chief executive officers of all scheduled banks operating in Bangladesh.
Port Branches to Remain Operational
It also instructed banks located in seaports, land ports and airports, including port and customs areas, to keep their branches and sub-branches operational for up to seven days a week in line with an earlier circular issued on August 5, 2019. Such branches may make necessary arrangements in consultation with the local administration and relevant port or customs authorities to ensure essential banking services, particularly those related to import and export activities, during the holidays. The directive was issued under Section 45 of the Bank Companies Act, 1991.
Surge in Petroleum Import LCs
Meanwhile, letters of credit (LCs) opened for importing petroleum and petroleum products rose around 63 percent year-on-year to US$3.7 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (FY27), as the Middle East conflict pushed up global oil and gas prices.
According to Bangladesh Bank data, LCs opened for petroleum and petroleum product imports amounted to $2.28 billion** in July-September of the previous fiscal year. LCs opened for crude oil imports tripled to around **$630 million in the first quarter of FY27 from more than $200 million a year earlier. The value of LCs opened for other petroleum products, including gas, rose to **$2.4 billion** from $1.12 billion during the same period.
LC settlements for petroleum and petroleum product imports also increased 26 percent year-on-year to $2.93 billion in July-September.
Rising Global Prices
Global average Brent crude prices rose more than 40 percent year-on-year to **$97 a barrel** in July-September, compared with $69 a barrel a year earlier, according to the World Bank's commodity price data. The average price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Japan also increased to **$14.45 per million British thermal units (MMBtu)** during the quarter from $11.73 a year earlier.
Bangladesh meets more than one-third of its natural gas demand through imports. Following QatarEnergy's declaration of force majeure, Bangladesh has increasingly relied on the spot market to secure LNG supplies. The spot-market price of LNG has reached around $30 per MMBtu, nearly three times the level typically paid before the Middle East conflict, putting additional pressure on the country's energy budget. Bangladesh requires more than 6.8 million tonnes of petroleum annually, with diesel accounting for more than two-thirds of total demand.
