Sri Lanka Bank Holiday in 2024

The Government of Sri Lanka has declared Friday, June 30th 2023, a special bank holiday which makes for a five-day bank holiday from June 29th to July 3rd.

The decision to include June 30 as a statutory holiday was seen by analysts that the government, planning to announce a Domestic Debt Restructuring (DDR) on Wednesday, wanted a longer weekend to provide a suitable buffer for any potential market reactions to significant financial announcements.  Analysts also raised concerns about whether it was prudent to have a five-day banking holiday with the relevant gazette for the June 30 holiday being issued by the Prime Minister’s office. They said banking holidays should ideally be no longer than three working days.

They said they believed that this cooling-off period of five days would minimise the potential frenzy in the sector. “If there is a DDR announcement, it is easier to control the situation by giving holidays as the people will not be so mobile”. Banking sector sources said the reaction to a DDR announcement would repel the market earlier than expected, despite the holiday. “It is already factored in,” one banker said.

A second banker said it was unwise as there were a lot of month-end targets and year-end targets that would not be achieved with such holidays. “One day itself is very costly for us,” he said.

The five-day bank holiday covers the Hajj festival (Thursday, June 29), Friday (June 30), Saturday (July 1), Sunday (July 2), and Esala Poya (Monday, July 3).