Bangladesh. The working day was shorter, the weekends were extended for the children. Anything to save electricity

Explosion war in Ukraine caused a sharp increase in the costs of importing energy raw materials. This increase is particularly acute for developing countries that do not have large foreign exchange reserves. One of them is Bangladesh, in which the energy crisis has made two-hour power outages common in many parts of the country. Protests of residents dissatisfied with the growing ones are also becoming a daily reality fuel prices.

In an effort to mitigate the effects of the crisis, Bangladeshi officials on Monday said schools across the country will open one day less per week. Until now, schools have only been closed on Fridays – in Muslim countries such as Bangladesh, it is traditionally a public holiday. Now, however, Saturdays will also be free from school.

At the same time, the working hours of all state offices and banks will be reduced to seven hours a day. These restrictions will not apply to private companies, which will still be able to set their own working hours.

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Most of Bangladesh’s electricity comes from burning natural gas, prices of which have increased significantly since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Diesel power plants, which produce about 6 percent of energy, were shut down completely after the price of diesel oil rose by more than 40 percent.

In recent years, Bangladesh has been one of the fastest-growing economically countries in the world. However, the current problems have brought this growth to a halt. In July, Bangladesh became the third South Asian country alongside Sri Lanka and Pakistan, which had to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for loans to save the economy.

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