The current energy cost may have taken it heat on First Bank of Nigeria as it announced reduction in its operating hours at most of its branches nationwide.
The cost of energy, especially diesel which price has gone up in recent weeks because of the Russian –Ukraine war has eaten deep into the operations of the bank and consequently, it is now being forced to cut costs.
In a statement made available on its official website Sunday, April 10, the bank said that the new development will take effect from Monday, April 11, which is today.
According to the bank: “We have revised our banking hours across all our locations. The revised opening and closing hours will be effective from Monday, 11 April 2022.”
The bank said that while some of its branches will maintain the status quo, other branches will function between the hours of 8:00 am and 3:00 pm., 8:00 am and 2:00 pm, 8:00 am and 1:00 pm and 10:00 am and 3:00 pm accordingly.
Though the bank did not state the reason for the action, it is believed that it took the decision to cushion the effect of the increasing cost of diesel with which it powers many of its branches.
The development also comes in the wake of the incessant national grid collapse that has overtime left the country in darkness, forcing organizations to heavily rely on diesel for their operations.
In March, the pump price of diesel hit a record high of N800 per litre, with the new price showing a significant increase from N225 per litre sold in January 2021.
Mostly used by large and medium-sized businesses to run their daily operations, the price of diesel, which is largely unregulated, has surged by over 113% in the last 14 months.
olusola Bello
