Oman New Year Holiday on August 23

In line with its earlier statement regarding the Islamic New Year, the Sultanate of Oman will have the official holiday on Sunday, August 23. The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs has announced that the new moon of Muharram 1442 AH was not sighted and, accordingly, August 20, 2020 will be the last day of Dhul-Hijjah 1441 AH and August 21 will be first day of Muharram .

The Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Civil Service had earlier said that Muharram 1 would be a public holiday for public and private sector employees. “If Muharram 1442 falls on Friday, August 21, the official holiday will be on Sunday, August 23 and the confirmation of the crescent of the month of Muharram will be announced by the competent authorities,” Oman New Agency stated.

New coins bearing Sultan Haitham’s name

The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has issued a batch of new coins in the denominations of 50, 25, 10 and 5 baisa, which will be in circulation from September. The new coins bear the name of His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik, who ascended the throne in January 2020.
Oman’s national currency is the Omani Rial (OMR) with lower denominations called the baisa. One OMR is 1,000 baisa.