Bangladesh will close schools for one more day on Sunday and reduce office hours by an hour to save electricity, a government official said on Monday, as the country grapples with shortages after shutting down all its diesel power plants .
The South Asian country shut down all 10 of its power plants last month after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove up the cost of imported fuel. Bangladesh started a daily two-hour blackout last month, but many parts of the country remain without power for much longer.
Closed plants account for about 6% of Bangladesh’s total electricity generation capacity of 23,000 megawatts. Natural gas, locally produced and imported, generates nearly three-quarters of the total.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government has decided that schools will operate only three days a week, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam told reporters.about:blank
Schools normally operate six days a week and are closed on Fridays, but the Ministry of Education has announced that they will now also be closed on Saturdays.
Government agencies will operate from 8am to 3pm instead of the usual 9am to 5pm, while banks will open from 9am to 4pm instead of 10am to 6pm, starting Wednesday. Private offices can set their working hours according to their requirements, Islam said.
Earlier this month, the government raised the price of oil by as much as 51.7%, sparking protests by students and opposition parties in the country of 165 million people.
