Uncalculated bank move creates chaos

The circular issued by the UAE Central Bank on the Eid Al Fitr holiday has taken many UAE residents by surprise and created a state of chaos in business circles.

Though it dealt with banks in the UAE, it resulted in paralysing the private and public sectors and putting unprecedented pressure on banking services in the UAE.

The Central Bank announcement gave customers less than six hours to complete their banking transactions before the banks closed for five days over the Eid holiday.

First of all, the five-day closure of banks is definitely too long a holiday for the banking sector by any standard. It will have a serious impact on peoples' lives and on the banking industry as well; but such an impact could have been minimised if the holiday was planned in advance.

The result of the uncalculated move by the Central Bank has created chaos in all aspects of life and affected seriously the performance of the public and private sectors.

Most employees were busy yesterday in withdrawing money from their accounts since they badly needed the funds for the Eid festivities, or to settle payments that become due during the long Eid holidays.

Another factor that added to the chaotic situation in the banks yesterday was the premature payment of November salaries for the employees of the federal government in different emirates, which added to the pressure on banking services, including at customer counters, over the banks' telephone networks, and at automated teller machine (ATM) kiosks.

Many residents also calculated that depending on ATM withdrawals later, during the extended five-day bank holiday, might be risky, and made a beeline for their banks yesterday morning.

While banks generally take precautions to ensure their ATMs are stocked with enough cash even during the holidays, many people would rather not take chances. Hence the rush at bank branches throughout the country.

The bank holiday could have been announced at the beginning of Ramadan some 28 days ago to avoid surprising customers just one day before the closure was decided.

This would have given them ample time to plan ahead, taking into account the long bank holiday, and make adequate arrangements. It would have also precluded the last-minute rush witnessed at the banks yesterday.

Banks are crucial to peoples' lives, and the decision dealing with their working hours and days should be looked at from a different perspective to ensure normal life for residents in the country.