All banks to remain open till 5 pm tomorrow

All banks, including private sector lenders, will remain open till 5 pm tomorrow for special clearings of government transactions for 2011-12.

All banks, including private sector lenders, will remain open till 5 pm on Saturday for special clearings of government transactions for 2011-12.

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The Reserve Bank has directed private and public sector banks to remain open on March 31, 2012, with a view to facilitate accounting of all government transactions for the current financial year (2011-12).

Banks have also been advised to ensure that the clearing houses under their jurisdiction conduct business keeping in view the operational convenience at the local centres. This is to ensure that instruments relating to revenue received from members of the public are realised and the proceeds are credited to government account by March 31, 2012.

"For the convenience of our esteemed customers, it has been decided to keep all branches of our bank open for public up to 5 pm on March 31, 2012. Branches transacting Government business will remain open till late hours as per the RBI directives," State Bank of India has said in an advertisement.

Next week, banks will remain closed for three days --April 2, 5 and 6 -- because of annual closing, Mahavir Jayanti and Good Friday, respectively.