{"id":1187763,"date":"2022-08-23T12:51:37","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T12:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/08\/23\/school-and-work-hours-cut-to-save-power\/"},"modified":"2022-08-23T12:51:37","modified_gmt":"2022-08-23T12:51:37","slug":"school-and-work-hours-cut-to-save-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/08\/23\/school-and-work-hours-cut-to-save-power\/","title":{"rendered":"School and work hours cut to save power"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Power cut \/ Credit: GETTY IMAGES<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Bangladesh will close schools for one more day each week and reduce office hours to ease an electricity shortage, a government official says.<\/p>\n

Last month, the South Asian nation started daily two-hour power cuts.<\/p>\n

Protesters have taken to the streets in recent weeks after the government raised petrol prices by more than 50%.<\/p>\n

The war in Ukraine has driven up the cost of importing fuel and taken a toll on Bangladesh\u2019s economy and foreign currency reserves.<\/p>\n

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On Monday, Bangladesh Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam said that schools \u2013 which were previously only closed on Fridays \u2013 would now also be shut on Saturdays.<\/p>\n

Under normal circumstances, schools in Bangladesh are open for six days a week \u2013 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, government offices and banks will have their opening hours cut to seven hours a day, instead of eight hours. However, private offices will be allowed to set their own operating hours, Mr Islam said.<\/p>\n

He added that the government would continue to provide power to villages, including in the early hours of the morning when crops are irrigated.<\/p>\n

Many parts of Bangladesh are known to go without electricity for more than two hours a day.<\/p>\n

The country generates most of its electricity from natural gas, some of which it imports.<\/p>\n

Officials have shut down all of the country\u2019s diesel-driven power plants, which account for around 6% of Bangladesh\u2019s electricity generation, because of the rising cost of fuel imports.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month,\u00a0petrol prices were raised by more than 50%, with the cost of the fuel rising from 86 taka a litre (90 US cents, 76p) to 130 taka.<\/p>\n

At the same time the price of diesel and kerosene went up by more than 40%.<\/p>\n

In July, Bangladesh became the third South Asian nation to seek a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), after Sri Lanka and Pakistan.<\/p>\n

While the size of the potential loan has not yet been decided, talks are expected to begin after the World Bank and IMF Spring meetings in October.<\/p>\n

Bangladesh\u2019s foreign currency reserves have dwindled to around $40bn (\u00a334bn) or four and a half months of typical government spending.<\/p>\n

In recent years, the $416bn economy has been lauded as one of the fastest-growing in the world.<\/p>\n

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