Riyadh: The Saudi Council of Ministers has approved the calculation of duration in official procedures and transactions based on the Gregorian date, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The decision was made during the weekly Cabinet session on Tuesday, October 31, chaired by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, in Riyadh.
The new decision will make an exception to Islamic Shariah provisions where periods are calculated based on the Hijri date.
In October 2016, the Kingdom decided to rely on the Gregorian calendar instead of the Hijri calendar in some of its official and legal activities.
It has used the lunar-based Hijri calendar since it was founded in 1932.
The Kingdom is utilizing the Hijri calendar as its official calendar, alongside the Gregorian as its second calendar.
The Hijri calendar consists of 12 months, each 29-30 days long depending on the sighting of the moon, with a year typically 354 days, 11 days shorter than Gregorian.
