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Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Pakistan

The list of Pakistan bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2008, comes from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. Qualified professionals can license data for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and beyond. For details, please visit our licensing information page or

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23 Dec 2008 (Associated Press Of Pakistan-Islamabad) Pakistan's Minister for Minorities Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti, has announced an optional public holiday on Friday, December 26, 2008, for Christian government servants. • 17 Dec 2008 (Daily Times-Karachi) The Cabinet of Pakistan's Province of Sindh has decided to declare December 27 a public holiday in the province to mark the first anniversary of the death of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairwoman Benazir Bhutto. • 29 Nov 2008 (Radio Pakistan-Islamabad) The Chairman of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, Mufti Muneebur Rehman, has announced that the Zilhajj moon had not been sighted anywhere in the country last night and that consequently the Eidul-Azha public holiday would be celebrated on Tuesday, December 9, 2008. • 16 Nov 2008 (Associated Press Of Pakistan-Islamabad) It has been announced that the next meeting of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee for sighting of the moon will be held on Friday night, November 28, 2008, to determine the sighting of the moon of Zilhajj 1429, and hence the date of the Eid al-Adha (Eid uz Zuha) public holiday. • 13 Nov 2008 (Associated Press of Pakistan-Islamabad) The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), throgh Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, has announced that Saturday, December 27, 2008, would be observed as a one-off nationwide public holiday to pay homage to former prime minster Shaheed Benazir Bhutto on the first anniversary of her death. • 28 Sep 2008 (The Frontier Post-Peshawar) The Administration Department of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) officially announced that the province would observe a 4th day for the upcoming Eid ul-Fitr (End of Ramadan) public holiday, on Saturday, October 4, 2008). • 24 Sep 2008 (The Frontier Post-Islamabad) According to a press release from Pakistan's Ministry of the Interior, the dates of the upcoming Eid-ul- Fitr public holiday have been shifted from the previously announced dates of October 2-4 to the period of Wednesday to Friday, October 1 to 3, 2008. • 07 Sep 2008 (The News-Islamabad) Following yesterday's election of President Asif Ali Zardari, the Province of Sindh had declared a public holiday for Monday, September 8, 2008. • 22 Aug 2008 (Xinhua) Earlier today, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced that the presidential election will be held on Saturday, September 6, 2008. • 20 Jun 2008 (The Daily Times-Karachi + Press Trust Of India) Provincial Law Minister, Ayaz Ahmed Soomro, announced that the Government of the Province of Sindh had decided to observe Saturday, June 21, 2008, as a one-off general public holiday to mark the birthday of slain leader, Benazir Bhutto. • 30 Mar 2008 (The News-Karachi) The parliamentary party of the PPP has demanded that April 4 And December 27, the death anniversaries of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto, respectively, be declared national holidays. • 15 Mar 2008 (The News-Karachi) The Governor of Sindh (which contains Karachi) announced an additional public holiday in the province on 11th Rabiul Awal (Thursday, March 20, 2008), in addition to 12th Rabiul Awal (The Prophet's Birthday). • 14 Feb 2008 (The News-Islamabad) The government of Pakistan has declared Monday, February 18, 2008, as a one-off public holiday on account of the general elections being held on that day. • 06 Feb 2008 (ONN) Many cities and regions have declared, or are expected to declare, Thursday February 7, 2008, as a public holiday, on the occasion of late PM Benazir Bhutto's Chelum (40 days after her death). • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Pakistan public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Weekends: Pakistan followed the Western Saturday/Sunday weekend, from independence in 1947 to 1977 when then Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, introduced the Friday/Saturday weekend in an attempt to win over Muslim clerics. The weekends were moved back to Saturday/Sunday in 1997 by then newly elected Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif. As of 2008, weekends in Pakistan are still Saturday/Sunday. • The Muslim public holidays may last up to several days. In particular, the Eidul Azha public holidays are regularly gazetted to last only 2 days, but then they are extended to last 3 days at the last minute. • Allama Iqbal is the national poet. • December 25 is a public holiday in Pakistan, not only on account of Christmas Day, but most importantly because it is the anniversary of the birth of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, often called the Father of the Nation . • The Second Day of Christmas is specifically listed by the government as a public holiday, but only for Christians. • Bank holidays are days the Banks will remain closed for public but not for their employees • The following are listed by the government as Optional Public Holidays for the federation and the provinces. These are denominational and may be alllowed at the discretion of the head of the office, provided the state of work permits. This was originally for minority communities under the 1934 Factories Act : • New Year's Day, Basant Punchami, Shivaratri, Holi, Dulhandi, Chelum, Baisakhi, Good Friday, Easter, Giarhwin Sharief, Budha Purnima, Janam Ashtami, Nauroz (Parsi New Year, see below), Shab-e-Meraj, Birthday of Lord Zoroaster (Khordad Sal), Shab-e-Berat, Durga Puja, Dusehra, Birthday of Guru Balik Swami Ji, Diwali, and Guru Nanak's Birthday. • Nauroz, which is a Persian word meaning New (Year) Day, is not only revered by the Parsi community but also by the Shia and Ismaili Muslims. Parsis celebrate Nauroz twice a year (once in March, to welcome the season of spring, according to the solar year, upon the vernal equinox of the sun, and once in July/August, to welcome the season of autumn, depending if one follows follow the Kadmi or the Shahenshahi calendar (the Kadmi New Year always precedes the Shahenshahi New Year by 30 days). • Other Sources of Information For information not covered here, see the following specialized websites: State Bank of Pakistan (Pakistan central bank), ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (maps, demographic and economic statistics), Copp Clark (financial markets' trading hours, settlement holidays and currency non-clearing days), and the IFES Election Guide (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and past voter participation).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in Pakistan, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world. Aft=Afternoon, Arm=Armenian, Bah=Bahai, Bnk=Banks and most financial institutions, Bud=Buddhist, Cat=Catholic, Chr=Christian, Cop=Coptic, Eve=Evening, Gov=Government services and civil servants, Hin=Hindu, Jew=Jewish, Lin=Linguistic or ethnic groups, Mor=Morning, Mun=Municipal, Mus=Muslim, Orth=Orthodox, Othr=Miscellaneous partial observances (usually described in the Additional Information section of this page), Prt=Protestant, Reg=Regional, Rel=Other Religion, Sch=Schools and universities, Sik=Sikh.

Religious Holidays : Public holidays in Pakistan that are based on certain religious calendars may be subject to local variations due to differing interpretations between different religious authorities, or to seemingly arbitrary changes in the date a holiday is celebrated because it conflicts with another holiday that is based on another calendar, or because the day of the holiday is deemed inauspicious (bad luck). To find out more about these uncertainties, see the footnote below, if any, for each specific religion.

Muslim Holidays : Muslim bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays, for Pakistan, were calculated using a mathematical model that is based on Sufist lunar visibility criteria. For Salat (prayer times) calculations, see our Freeware page.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2008 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Pakistan, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Pakistan, before planning any trip to Pakistan. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.