The government has decided to extend the upcoming Eid‑ul‑Fitr holidays by a day to include March 18, bringing the total vacation to seven days this year.

The decision to declare March 18 as a holiday was approved at a cabinet meeting held at the Bangladesh Secretariat today, chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

State Minister for Education and Primary Education Bobby Hajjaj briefed reporters about the Eid vacation after the meeting.

Subject to moon sighting, Eid-ul-Fitr is expected to be observed on March 20 or 21.

Considering March 21 as the likely date of Eid, the Ministry of Public Administration had earlier fixed a five-day holiday from March 19 to 23.

Under that schedule, March 21 would be a general holiday marking Eid, while March 19 and 20 (before Eid) and March 22 and 23 (after Eid) were to be observed as holidays by executive order.

With the approval of the additional holiday on March 18, the effective break before Eid will now span four consecutive days.

Meanwhile, March 17 is already a public holiday on the occasion of Shab-e-Qadr.