All agency banks dealing with govt transactions to remain open on March 31: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday requested all agency banks dealing with government business to keep their branches open on March 31, 2024. The last day of the current financial year (2023-24) falls on a Sunday.

"The Government of India has made a request to keep all branches of the banks dealing with Government receipts and payments open for transactions on March 31, 2024 (Sunday) so as to account for all the Government transactions relating to receipts and payments in the FY2023-24 itself," the RBI said in a statement.

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Accordingly, agency banks are advised to keep all their branches dealing with government business open on March 31, 2024 (Sunday), it said. The RBI added that the banks shall give due publicity on the availability of the above banking services on this day.

Some of the public-sector banks (PSBs) which are listed under RBI's agency banks are Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India, Indian Bank, and Indian Overseas Bank, among others.

On the other hand, some of the private banks listed under the RBI's agency banks are Axis Bank Ltd, City Union Bank Ltd, DCB Bank Ltd, Federal Bank Ltd, HDFC Bank Ltd, and ICICI Bank Ltd, among others.

Meanwhile, RBI Governor Governor Shaktikanta Das called on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, ahead of the central bank's interest rate-setting panel meeting next month. The minister separately held a meeting with SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch at her North Block office, according to a post by Sitharaman's Office on X.

These policy meetings come at a time when the industry is pitching for an interest rate cut, and stock markets are witnessing intense volatility. The RBI has held the benchmark interest rate or repo rate at an elevated level of 6.5 per cent since February 2023.