Bangladesh cuts working hours to save energy amid Middle East crisis
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Bangladesh is heavily dependent on fuel imports and has been battered by price volatility and supply uncertainty from the Iran war.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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DHAKA – Bangladesh cut office and shop hours and banned decorative lighting at weddings starting from April 3 as it seeks to conserve energy stocks after global price hikes due to the Middle East war.
Bangladesh imports 95 per cent of its oil and gas needs, mostly from the Middle East. It said that, while there are adequate stocks of petrol and diesel, it hopes to mitigate the effects of “unsecured” supply lines.
About 60 per cent of its electricity is generated using imported gas, while diesel is used primarily for farming in the region.
Dhaka ordered all government and private offices, as well as banks, to shut an hour earlier each day starting from April 3 until further notice.
“The fuel supply line is unsecured... Both government and private offices will run from 9am to 4pm, while banks will remain open from 9am to 3pm,” top government secretary Nasimul Gani told reporters at a news briefing late on April 2.
Shopping centres, which normally stay open late, will now shut by 6pm, although stores selling food supplies are expected to keep their usual hours.
A ban on decorative lighting, which initially included only malls, has now been extended to include weddings.
Weddings in Bangladesh are celebrations that entertain hundreds of guests at brightly decorated venues and can often co-opt large parts of a neighbourhood.
The government has asked departments to refrain from purchasing vehicles and computers and to limit money being spent on hospitality costs for work events.
Foreign training missions for government officials have been suspended, while domestic training will be cut by half.
The measures will reduce at least 30 per cent of total fuel consumption, officials estimated.
Schools and colleges could also see schedule changes as the government considers purchasing electric buses for student transport.
Bangladesh has said it is seeking loans of around US$2 billion (S$2.57 billion) from multilateral donors to tackle energy worries.
Apart from the latest measures, the government has also set limits on fuel purchases, halted production at most fertiliser factories and deployed police to patrol filling stations that have recently been packed with motorists.
The government conducted around 5,000 raids and confiscated about 400,000 litres of illegally acquired fuel between March 3 and April 1, a spokesperson for the Fuel and Energy Division said. AFP
