All government and private offices across the country will operate from 9:00am to 4:00pm starting today.

A notification issued yesterday (Saturday), signed by Farida Yesmin, deputy secretary of the Rule-4 branch of the Ministry of Public Administration, confirmed the new schedule. 

The decision was finalised at a cabinet meeting on Thursday night as part of the government’s austerity measures, amid strains on the energy sector following the fallout of the US-Israel war on Iran. 

With this, the government has officially reduced office hours by one hour. 

However, emergency services will remain outside the purview of the new schedule. 

Weekly holidays will continue to be observed on Friday and Saturday. 

According to the notification, banks and financial institutions will also operate from 9:00am to 4:00pm in line with Cabinet Division instructions. 

However, customer service hours will be from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Bangladesh Bank has been directed to take the necessary steps in this regard. 

The Supreme Court will issue directives to determine court office schedules. 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour and Employment will take measures to fix working hours for private sector industrial units and factories in accordance with the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006, the notification added.