The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday announced that all countrywide banks will remain closed for public dealing on January 3 (Monday). The central bank has said that January 3, 2022, will be observed as a “Bank Holiday”, therefore, all banks, development finance institutions (DFIs) and Microfinance Banks (MFBs) will remain closed for public dealing. The State Bank will also remain closed. The notification, however, mentioned that employees of banks, DFIs and MFBs will attend the office as usual. Moreover, a day earlier the central bank had announced that field offices of the SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP-BSC) and authorized branches will observe extended banking hours till 8 pm and 10 pm on December 30 and 31, respectively to facilitate the collection of government receipts and taxes. “Accordingly, National Institutional Facilitation Technologies (NIFT) has been advised to arrange a special clearing at 8pm on December 31, 2021 (Friday) for same-day clearing of payment instruments,” the SBP had said in a statement. The central bank had also directed all banks to keep their concerned branches open on December 31, 2021 (Friday).