Businesses, people struggle amid cash crunch

Amid the ongoing instability and recent changes in government, the already troubled banking sector of the country is encountering a fresh crisis due to the shortage of cash at ATM booths and a restriction regarding cash withdrawal from banks.

General people and traders are grappling with a cash crunch as the Bangladesh Bank on Saturday instructed the commercial banks to limit daily cash withdrawal to Tk2 lakh per person for the current week.

Rizwan Rahman, a former president of Dhaka Chamber  of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), said the country is still facing challenges due to the central bank’s cash withdrawal restrictions. This has made paying salaries difficult. He urged all to be patient with the new government’s efforts for economic recovery.

Rahman also expressed his hope that the new administration will facilitate smooth business operations and prevent disruptions in foreign trade.

Bankers said the crisis will soon be resolved and customers will receive services as before.

Meanwhile disruptions in ATM services have been recurring since last week and currently most of the booths have no money. The shortage has occurred due to insufficient security in the past few days, which has prevented the replenishment of cash in ATM booths.

Emdadul Haque, a resident of Mirpur, said he had been visiting a number of ATM booths since Monday afternoon to withdraw money for shopping, but found most of them closed or out of cash.

“I usually do not carry much cash with me as I always use ATMs. But since all the booths were closed, I had to go home to get money and do my shopping. Who knows how long this situation will last?” he said.

A senior official of Securix Limited, which transports cash to ATM booths, told the Daily Sun that carrying large amounts of cash has become risky in the current situation. So, it is not possible to supply cash to the ATM booths as needed. Previously, they supplied Tk30 crore to ATMs of four banks per day, but currently they supply only Tk10 crore.