The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced on Tuesday that bank employees will take a four-day holiday from Monday, August 20th to Thursday August 23rd to celebrate the Islamic Eid-Al-Adha, which starts on Tuesday, August 21st.

The country's stock exchange will also close on those days.

Business at banks and the stock exchange will resume on Sunday 26 August as employees are off as usual on the weekend days of Friday and Saturday.

The Ministry of Manpower also announced that state employees will take a four day paid holiday from 20 to 23 August, while private sector workers will take a three day paid holiday from 20 to 22 August.

Muslims around the world are expected to celebrate the religious holiday Eid Al-Adha - - the Feast of Sacrifice - from Tuesday 21 August to Friday 24 August.

On Monday 20 August, pilgrims will perform the Stand on Arafat ritual as part of hajj.

The four-day Eid Al-Adha is one of the two most important religious holidays of the Islamic calendar, along with Eid El-Fitr. 

The Eid holiday coincides with the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Eid Al-Adha marks the anniversary of the willingness of the Prophet Abraham to sacrifice his son in an act of obedience to God’s command.

Muslims celebrate the occasion by the sacrificial slaughtering of an animal such as a sheep, a cow, or a goat, with the meat distributed as alms to the poor.