A bank account holder can withdraw cash up to two lakh taka a day for this week given the current security situation, according to a Bangladesh Bank circular.

The central bank issued the instruction to the MDs of all commercial banks through SMS on Saturday. It will be effective from Sunday, the first working day of the week.

Earlier on Thursday the maximum cash withdrawal limit was set at one lakh taka.

However, businesspeople can draw larger amount of cash for payment of salaries of employees ensuring security on their own, said the circular. The same is applicable for the expatriates.

The central bank also asked banks to supervise that a person cannot withdraw money from multiple branches of banks in a day. This directive should be followed especially in the case of key political leaders.

On Thursday, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) under the BB was ordered to report any amount of money withdrawn by a politically important person. The names of political leaders, bank chairmen, businessmen, secretaries, and senior police officers are on this list. Such instruction is given mainly to prevent any person from withdrawing money for criminal activity or escaping from the country.