Fuel crisis forces Bangladesh to cut down school and office hours

South Asian country becomes third one this year to seek IMF assistance after Pakistan and Sri Lanka

Bangladesh will close schools for one extra day each week and cut short office time by an hour to save power as south Asian nations battle energy shortages.

Bangladesh cabinet secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s government has decided for schools to now be closed for two days a week.

While students in the country earlier used to get a holiday on Friday, they will now get one on Saturday as well.

Mr Islam said the working hours of government offices and banks have also been reduced to seven hours a day from the usual eight.

Starting Wednesday, government offices will work from 8am to 3pm and banks from 9am to 4pm.

However, no changes have been announced for private offices which can set working hours as per their requirement.

He said the government will continue to provide uninterrupted power to villages for irrigation from midnight to morning.

It comes as a global shortage of fuel for power generation has been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since February, hitting emerging economies like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh had last month shut all 10 of its diesel-driven power plants which make up for 6 per cent of its electricity generation due to the spiralling cost of imported fuel.

The country has begun two hours of power cuts daily since last month. Many areas across the country, however, are suffering power outages for longer hours.

The government had raised oil prices by 51.7 per cent earlier this month, touted to be the highest ever, according to local media, sparking anger among people who took to the streets to protest.

This led to a rise in fuel prices from 86 taka (90 US cents) a litre to 130 taka ($1.36)

Angry protesters surrounded fuel stations across Bangladesh, demanding the steep price increase be reversed.

The country, with a population of 165 million, has become the third south Asian country to seek loans from global agencies like the International Monetary Fund, after Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The $416bn economy, said to be one of the fastest growing in the world for years, is now struggling with dwindling foreign exchange reserves due to inflated import bills.

The country’s foreign currency reserves have reduced to around $40bn, which is four and a half months of typical government spending.

Inflation rate in the country has topped 6 per cent for nine consecutive months, with the highest annual inflation in July at 7.48 per cent.