Public holidays in Bangladesh, 2023

How Bangladesh public holidays work in 2023

Bangladesh's public holidays are declared annually by the Ministry of Public Administration in coordination with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and total about twenty-two days including general holidays, executive order holidays and optional holidays. The civic core includes International Mother Language Day on 21 February marking the 1952 Bengali language martyrs, Independence Day on 26 March commemorating the 1971 declaration, Bengali New Year (Pohela Boishakh) on 14 April, May Day on 1 May, National Mourning Day on 15 August marking the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Victory Day on 16 December marking the 1971 liberation. The religious calendar adds Eid-e-Miladunnabi, Shab-e-Barat, Shab-e-Qadr, Eid-ul-Fitr (three days), Eid-ul-Adha (three days), Ashura, Durga Puja, Buddha Purnima and Christmas.

Working days in Bangladesh

The Bangladesh Labour Act 2006 section 100 sets the standard working week at 48 hours over six days. The official government and banking week is Sunday to Thursday at 8 to 9 hours, with Friday and Saturday as the weekend; Friday is the statutory weekly rest day under Islamic practice and section 103, with Saturday added as a second rest day for government and banking since 1997. The Code of Civil Procedure 1908 section 4 rolls procedural deadlines falling on a holiday to the next working day. Settlement of taka transactions runs on Bangladesh Bank's RTGS and BACH clearing, which observe the gazetted banking holiday list.

For people planning cross-border meetings, the practical move is to overlay Bangladesh's calendar with the calendars of the other countries on your team. A week that looks completely clear from your end might be a national holiday on theirs. The compare tool above pairs two country calendars and highlights the overlapping closures, so you can spot the weeks where almost no one is at their desk before you put a launch on the board.