Saturday and Sunday to become Public Holidays in Nepal

From May 15th 2022, the Nepalese government will increase regular public holidays to two days in a week in an effort to cut the consumption of fuels whose prices have skyrocketed in recent months in the country, a cabinet minister said.

“A cabinet meeting on April 26 decided to implement the two-day public holidays in a week effective from May 15 on a trial basis,” Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, minister for communication and information technology, told reporters.

Currently, Nepal is implementing a one-day public holiday in a week on Saturday, the new rule adds Sunday as an extra day off, reports Xinhua news agency.

As per the cabinet decision, the five-day work hours will be rescheduled to 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., from the existing office hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Earlier, Nepal’s central bank had advised the government to implement two-day public holidays to reduce the consumption of fuels on the grounds that public mobility is reduced substantially during holidays.

Nepal already has the highest number of public holidays in the world – due in part to the one-day weekend.

Public Holidays in Nepal for 2022