Qatar’s ministries, government institutions and public entities will get 11 days off for Eid al-Fitr this year, with vacation due to start on Wednesday, July 15, QNA reports.

The official holiday will end on Thursday, July 23 and the first day of business for these bodies will be Sunday, July 26, according to an announcement today from the Emiri Diwan.

The leave is in line with the holidays granted to the public sector last year, while in 2013 such organizations had a 12-day break.

The exact date of Eid will be determined by the sighting of the new moon, but it is anticipated that the holiday will begin this Friday, July 17 or Saturday, July 18.

Private sector

Employees in the private sector and banking staff are normally given leave of around three days for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which means “festival of breaking of the fast” and signifies the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

The governor of the Qatar Central Bank will set the start and end dates for banks, QCB staff, QCB-supervised financial institutions and Qatar Financial Markets Authority, QNA added.

Other non-government employees will have to wait until Eid has been officially announced to be certain of any vacation period.

UAE holidays

Meanwhile, in the UAE, the Ministry of Labor announced today that public sector holidays would begin a day later than Qatar, on July 16, with work resuming on July 21, Gulf News reports.

https://twitter.com/MOLUAE/status/620169864737492993/photo/1

Emirati state employees are expected to receive their salaries ahead of the holiday, on July 14.

Private sector employees in the Emirates will get a two-day holiday, which will take effect once Eid has officially been declared.

What are your plans for Eid al-Fitr this year? Thoughts?