Banks to remain closed for 5 days due to strike

Bank officer's unions have called for a strike on December 21 and 26 which may keep banks closed until December 27, except on Monday, December 24. 

The All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) has called on strike on Friday, December 21 demanding consideration of XIth Bipartite wage revision and the merger of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank into one entity. 

Besides the weekend closure of December 22 (fourth Saturday) and Sunday, December 23, banks will be closed on Tuesday for Christmas on December 25 and on 26, due to a strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions. All this will lead to 5 days holiday for banks.

Banking services across public sector banks may be affected, while banks have mobilised enough cash to ATM to manage the withdrawal needs of customers. More than 3.2 lakh officers of the banker's unions are expected to participate in the strike.

Meanwhile, Nifty Bank recovered in the post-lunch session and was trading at 27,256.65, down by 41.75 points or 0.15 per cent at 14:25 hours, on Thursday. Of the 12 stock index, 5 were trading in the green, while 7 were trading in the red. Those in the green were private bank stocks led by Yes Bank up by 3.79 per cent and IDFC Bank up by 2.45 per cent. The benchmark Nifty50 was at 10,938.20, down by 29.10 points or 0.27 per cent, while BSE Sensex was at 36,393.10, down by 91.23 points or 0.25 per cent.