Saturday, May 27, will be the first day of Ramadan 2017

The holy month of Ramadan will begin on Saturday, May 27, Saudi Arabia announced today.

Correspondingly, the last day of Ramadan is likely to be June 24, and Eid Al Fitr will be on June 25, subject to moon sighting.

The UAE government has shortened working hours for public and private sector employees during Ramadan.

According to the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, the working hours for the government employees will be from 9am until 2pm across the UAE.

For private sector employees, work timings have been shortened by two hours.

Although Ramadan is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, since the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. This difference means Ramadan moves ahead in the Gregorian calendar by approximately 11 days every year.

Khaleej Times