The post Benazir Bhutto assassination riots across the country have badly affected the economy, especially financial sector as some 700 banks and financial institutions branches have been damaged, besides 150 ATMs.
Sources in the banking sector said out of the total damaged branches, some 409 were partially and 290 were completely destroyed. The total loss is estimated at about Rs1.2 billion, while the highest number of branches, i.e. 521, were damaged in Sindh, followed  by 164 in Punjab, seven in NWFP and seven in Balochistan. The miscreants also killed nine people: four bank officials and three guards.
According to the sources it is for the first time in the country’s history that the banking sector has sustained such huge damages and losses. They said professional criminals and thieves were involved in vandalizing banks, particularly in Sindh province.
About the resumption of banking activities, they said it would take at least two weeks for things to return to normal, adding that miscreants inflicted such great damages that banking services went completely
paralyzed in parts of Sindh. Figures provided by the officials and operational group officers of
different banks and financial institution suggested that 699 branches of various banks and financial institutions have been vandalized or looted during this period. Over 70 per cent incidents of banks
destruction, plundering and torching have been reported in the interior Sindh and Karachi, sources said.
All bank branches in Larkana, Sukkhar and Mirpur Khas have been burnt or destroyed, bringing about a virtual suspension of services in these areas. Presently, there is no possibility to resume the banking services in the small cities on immediate basis, as banks were operating there with few branches, which sustained heavy damages.
Fears that records of some branches may have been totally lost have arisen after the non-online branches failed to retrieve the destroyed files and other data. However, the online banks with strong online backup are not going to face such problem, majority of banks officials claimed.
In the entire violent episode, the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) sustained most damages as its four on duty staffers lost lives in interior Sindh. NPB spokesman Amem Akhtar has said that NBP Main Branch, Khairpur Miras was also burnt in recent acts of hooliganism, and, unfortunately, four NBP officers were inside the branch, who lost their lives in the incident.
The entire NBP family is shocked by this great human tragedy and NBP fully sympathizes with the aggrieved families.
NBP Chairman & President Mr. S.Ali Raza has announced a sum of one million rupees each for the families of the deceased as well as a job in the bank for the immediate relatives of the deceased officers, the bank spokesman said.
He said during the violence, an employee of NBP Foundation and two policemen also lost their lives while protecting the Branch. The MD NBP Foundation has granted a compensation of one million rupees each for the families of the deceased. The NBP has also decided to give Rs300,000 to each policeman who lost his life in the said incident.
Khalid Mehmood, senior executive vice president of NBP, has said some 90 branches of NBP have been affected during the four days violence, and out of them 56 branches have been completely destroyed. Some 5 branches have been destroyed in Karachi, while most of the branches damaged were located in the interior Sindh, he added.
Anwar Jabees, public relations officer of Habib Bank Limited, said overall 115 bank branches and 20 ATMs had been damaged, out of which some 59 interior Sindh branches had been completely destroyed. He said all bank employees were safe.
"United Bank Limited also has faced huge losses during the hooliganism and over 60 branches have been completely burned or looted, while some 50 have been partially damaged," a UBL official said.
However, he claimed that all backup of bank branches was safe and they would resume operation very  soon. "Some 50 branches of Allied Bank of Pakistan have been looted, burned or damaged across the country during the last four days" said an ABL official.
He said ABL had started recovery operation and some 11 branches have been made operational. Overall, some 734 ABL branches out of 754 were operating on Monday.
Sources said over 90 branches of MCB bank had also been damaged, however the bank management, despite several contacts, has not provided any figures. Ibn-I-Hasan, public relations officer of PICIC, has confirmed that some 14 of their branches, including 12 branches of PICIC commercial banks, have been vandalized during the violence.
Likewise, Shaheen Zameer, PRO First Women Bank, said: "Four of our branches at Leyari, Mirpurkhas, Larkana, Shikarpur have been destroyed during the disturbances.”
Similarly, some seven branches of Askaribank, including the ones at Korangi, Timber Market, Larkana and Jacobabad, have been destroyed, while two guards in the interior Sindh lost their lives.
Similarly, four branches of Zarai Taraqiati Bank limited, one branch of Mezan Bank, and one branch of Tameer Bank were damaged.
In addition, according to unofficial figures, some 5 branches of Bank Alflah, one branch of Bank Alhabib and a recovery office of SME at Bahawalpur have been destroyed.
Majority of officials confirmed that bank branches were completely insured, therefore banks would not suffer huge losses. However, the data loss would create difficulties and customers would be affected by the
entire situation for over one week to one month, they added.
After the riots, the central bank had asked banks to provide the details of damaged branches during the next three days. The State Bank of Pakistan also has collected details of banks' branches damaged across the country, and confirmed that overall 699 bank branches have been damaged.
However, SBP said despite these damages and huge losses, the banks were making arrangements with a view to ensuring continuity of operations of the damaged branches.