Banks to observe extended hours

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) directed banks to observe extended working hours on March 31st to facilitate taxpayers in payments of duty and taxes, it said on Friday.

In its statement, the central bank said field offices of the SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP BSC) and authorised branches of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) would observe extended banking hours till 8:00pm on March 30th and 10:00pm on March 31st.

It also directed National Institutional Facilitation Technologies (NIFT) to arrange a special clearing at 8:00pm on March 31, 2022 for same day clearing of payment instruments.

SBP advised all banks to keep their designated branches till such time to facilitate special clearing for the government transactions by NIFT.