JAKARTA ~ The government has cut three of its 23 holidays for 2008, citing a need to keep the economy humming amid fears of a global slowdown, according to a ministerial decree.

The three holidays were among eight so-called “sandwich holidays” – days sandwiched between public holidays and weekends, or to replace holidays falling on a weekend – which are given to government workers and shutter the stock market in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

Private businesses can decide whether or not to offer the holidays to their employees.

The decree, issued by the ministers for religious affairs, manpower and transmigration, was issued this week due to “global economic developments … which require both the readiness and the attention of all, including from the ranks of the state apparatus,” the document said.

It also said that the decision had taken into consideration “the very positive input from various sides, be that individuals, groups or mass media, concerning the policy and the implementation of the extra holidays.”

Critics have long complained that the large number of Indonesian public holidays puts a drag on the economy.