The sighting of the new moon in lunar calendar's ninth month would denote Ramadan. Ramadan is the Islamic holy month when Muslims around the world abstained from food and drink in between sunrise and sunset.
"The productivity of workers declines in the holy month by 35-50% as a result of shorter working hours and the change in behaviour during this month," an economist headquartered in the Jordanian capital Amman, Samer Sunnuqrot, said. "This causes lower productivity and performance and might incur losses for business people because of the postponing of decisions and processing of government transactions."
"The positive side of Ramadan for business people is a higher demand for goods and services and higher consumption. That often means higher prices, which translates into higher profit margins for merchants, retail stores, restaurants and cafes - especially those which arrange amusement programmes for after iftar [the breaking of the fast at the end of the day]."
During this month, people would tend to acquire more than they need. They would also be inclined in consuming more which would directly result in the boost of retail spending and cafe culture in particular.
Safiya Baharune at Islamic Relief in London said that charities would surge too due to continuous donations. "It is our busiest time of the year," she added.
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