Cabinet approves 29 days of public holidays for 2027

The cabinet has approved a list of public holidays totalling 29 days for 2027, combining general holidays and holidays by executive order. The decision was taken at the cabinet’s 26th meeting, held at the Secretariat on Monday (November 2).

Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Gani presented the details at a briefing held at the conference room of the Department of Information after the meeting.

According to the cabinet secretary, the approved public holiday list for 2027 includes 15 days of general holidays on the occasion of national days and various religious festivals. However, four of those 15 days fall on weekly holidays—two Fridays and two Saturdays.

On the other hand, a further 14 days of public holidays have been declared by executive order on the occasion of Bangla New Year and religious festivals. Three of those days fall on weekly holidays—one Friday and two Saturdays.

As a result, although the 15 days of general holidays and the 14 days of executive-order holidays total 29 days, excluding the seven days that fall on weekly holidays, the effective number of public holidays next year will be 22 days.

In addition, employees of the republic will be able to enjoy up to three days of optional leave a year on the occasion of various religious festivals. Government employees from small ethnic groups in the Chattogram Hill Tracts and other parts of the country will get two days of optional leave for their main social festival, Boisabi or a similar festival.

Alongside the holiday list, the same meeting gave final approval to the draft of the ‘Special Solar Power Installation Act, 2026’, prepared to rapidly expand special solar power installation activities.

The draft was approved subject to vetting by the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, with the aim of converting the previously issued ordinance into an act of parliament in accordance with the constitution.

The draft of the ‘Public Procurement (Second Amendment) Act, 2026’ also received policy and final approval, in order to ensure transparency, accountability, equal treatment and competition in government procurement.

The new amendment provides for special benefits for domestic industry, new and small entrepreneurs, women and disadvantaged bidders, alongside modernisation of the open tender method and provisions for alternative procurement systems. The draft, prepared to convert the recently issued ordinance into law, had already been published on the BPPA and IMED websites for public opinion.