DHAKA —
Bangladesh rolled out energy restrictions and shut down power plants Tuesday as
a spike in global fuel prices slammed the South Asian economy, officials said.
اضافة اعلان
Power ministry spokesman Aslam Uddin said
international fuel prices had surged since Russia invaded Ukraine, prompting
Bangladesh to shut down diesel-powered plants and keep some gas-fired power
factories idle.
Bangladesh has also ordered scheduled
blackouts of up to two hours daily and a shutdown of shops after 8 pm,
officials said.
“Electricity connections to shops and malls
will be cut if they violate the order,” Uddin said.
The country’s tens of thousands of mosques
have been asked to only run air-conditioners during the five daily prayers, he
said.
Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, the prime
minister’s energy adviser, on Monday urged people to save power and said
officials may start carpooling, shortening office hours, and holding meetings
online.
Former senior IMF official
Ahsan H Mansur said power rationing was not the right solution to the economic problem, which
has been worsened by the sliding value of the taka against the dollar.
“It is a balance of payment problem. It is
manageable. But the government should hike energy prices instead of rationing
it,” he said.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist
Party said the power rations show that “the country is in the grip of an
economic crisis”, and blamed government spending.
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