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n light of the upcoming Idul Fitri holiday, the central bank has announced it would close from Sept. 9 until Sept. 13, while the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) says there would be no trading from Sept. 8 to Sept. 14.

“All banks will follow Bank Indonesia’s holiday schedule, so they will also be closed from Sept. 9 to Sept. 13 as BI will disable operational activities of Real-time Gross Settlement [RTGS] and Scriptless Securities Settlement System [SSSS] during the period. Banking activities will resume Tuesday, Sept. 14,” BI spokesman Difi Ahmad Johansyah said.

BI previously said it had prepared an extra Rp 50 trillion (US$5.55 billion) in cash for the expected increase in demand for cash during Ramadan and the Idul Fitri holiday.

Major banks, including Bank Mandiri, Bank Central Asia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia, have also beefed up cash supplies to facilitate customers through branches and ATMs.

Finance and strategy director of state lender Bank Mandiri, Pahala Mansuri, said earlier that bank would keep 120 branches open during the holiday season.

Bank Mandiri had also prepared Rp 14 trillion for customer withdrawals from branches and ATMs during the period, he said.

Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) spokesman Muhamad Ardiansyah has also said BRI’s call center and Internet banking services would continue to operate during the holidays.

Ardiansyah said that during Idul Fitri holidays, BRI bank had prepared Rp 8 trillion in cash for ATMs.

IDX president Ito Warsito said that in the periods just before and after the long holiday, the trading volume might decrease by about Rp 1.5 trillion from the current average of Rp 4.2 trillion per day to about Rp 2.7 trillion per day.

“Only the domestic markets will be closed. Global stock trading activities will continue as usual, except in certain countries with majority Muslim populations,” he said. (est)