Dhaka, Dec. 24 -- The Election Commission (EC) has asked Bangladesh Bank to keep banks open across the country on the weekly holiday of Saturday.

In a letter sent on Wednesday, the EC said banks need to remain open for candidates to deposit money through pay orders for nomination deposits and the purchase of voter lists.

According to the election schedule, the deadline for submitting nomination papers is Dec 29.

Ahead of that, banks will remain closed for three consecutive days due to the Christmas holiday on Dec 25, followed by the weekly holidays on Friday and Saturday, Dec 26 and 27.

The commission said the decision to request banks to remain open on Saturday has been taken to avoid complications for candidates in submitting their ...