The country's business leaders yesterday urged the government to review the two-day holiday.

They also demanded a study to assess the impact of Friday-Saturday holiday on the economy in the next two months.

The businesses at a meeting also criticised the government for not consulting the private sector before taking the major decision. They preferred Sunday as full day and Saturday as half-day holiday.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) organised the meeting at the Federation building where business leaders representing Metropolitan chamber, Dhaka chamber, American chamber,

Chittagong chamber, BGMEA, insurance association, frozen foods' exporters association and jute mill association took part in the discussion.

The business leaders also said if the government fails to change the new weekly holiday, which takes effect today, it [government] should take steps so that exportimport related bank branches, port, Export Promotion Bureau, customs and fisheries inspection department remain open in six days.

"The business community should take common stand against two-day weekend," said Mir Nasir Hossain, who took over as the new FBCCI president on Tuesday.

President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sayeeful

Islam said the government should promote CNG conversion of petroleum-fuel run vehicles to reduce oil use.

Senior Vice-president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry SM Nurul Haque said the country's business activities will remain isolated from the world for more than three days due to the new holiday.

Referring to the finance minister's advice of creating virtual offices through e-governance to offset two-day holiday, Aftab-Ul Islam, president of American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh, said the country lacks adequate infrastructure to establish e-governance.