Banks near mango markets in four districts open on Saturdays in mango season

Bangladesh Bank told scheduled banks to keep their branches and sub-branches next to mango markets in the greater Rajshahi region open on a limited scale on Saturdays, the weekly holiday, so that cash could keep moving during the mango trade. Jagonews24 reported on Saturday, 27 June 2026 that the branches in Chapainawabganj, Naogaon, Rajshahi and Natore districts were open that day too. The arrangement was to run until 31 July 2026.

The instruction was issued as Circular Letter No. 08 of Bangladesh Bank's Supervisory Data Management and Analytics Department (SDAD), dated 25 June 2026 and signed by the department's director, Md Abdul Mannan. It went to the managing directors and chief executive officers of all scheduled banks operating in Bangladesh.

The letter asked banks to make the necessary arrangements, at their own discretion and with adequate security, to open the branches concerned on a limited scale every Saturday until 31 July. It was issued in the public interest under the powers of Section 45 of the Bank Company Act, 1991.

The facility was for customers of scheduled bank branches beside permanent and temporary mango markets. Bangladesh Bank's letter named these areas:

• Chapainawabganj: Shibganj, Chapainawabganj Sadar, Gomostapur and Bholahat upazilas
• Naogaon: Sapahar, Porsha and Niamatpur upazilas
• Rajshahi and Natore: mango markets that grow up in various upazilas of the two districts

According to the central bank, the aim was threefold: to ensure an adequate supply of cash at the mango markets, to make it easier for traders to deposit money, and to reduce the risk of holding cash. Banks were also told to ensure the necessary security while operating on a holiday.

The step was not new. On 4 June 2025, Bangladesh Bank's Department of Offsite Supervision (DOS) had issued a near-identical instruction for the same areas, asking banks to open every Saturday except Eid day until 31 July 2025.

Chapainawabganj is known as the mango capital of Bangladesh, and the summer fruit is the main source of the district's economy. Most of its mangoes come from Shibganj, Bholahat, Nachol and Gomostapur upazilas, and Fazli, Langra, Khirshapati, Ashwina and Bombai are among its well-known varieties. In the season, Shibganj hosts the district's biggest mango market, crowded with seasonal traders.

Naogaon, long known for rice, has also made mango a main cash crop, with large orchards in its border upazilas of Sapahar, Porsha, Patnitala and Niamatpur. At the peak of the season, growers and traders in these markets need to withdraw and deposit more cash, and when banks close for the holiday that money has to be kept by hand. Opening branches on Saturdays was meant to reduce exactly that risk.

Photo: Mahinur11 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sources: Jagonews24, Bangladesh Bank (SDAD Circular Letter No. 08, 25 June 2026; DOS Circular Letter No. 10, 4 June 2025), Wikipedia (Chapai Nawabganj District, Naogaon District, Mango)