KATHMANDU, Nepal: Nepal said on Sunday it was cutting the working week from six days to five for the civil service and educational institutions to cope with the energy crisis caused by the Middle East war.
Saturday had until now been the only day off each week for such workers in the Himalayan nation.
Government spokesperson Sasmit Pokharel told reporters the two-day weekend would come into effect this week.
“Given the present uncomfortable situation caused by fuel supply, the government and educational institutions remain closed for two days,” Pokharel said.
Government offices will now operate from 9 am to 5 pm on Monday to Friday.
Pokharel said the government was also exploring legal measures to convert petrol and diesel vehicles to electric power but gave no further details.
Nepal, a landlocked nation of 30 million people, relies almost entirely on India for its fossil fuel supplies, leaving it exposed to international price shocks.
It nearly doubled aviation fuel prices on Thursday, while the state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation said it had been incurring heavy losses on other petroleum products despite some price hikes.
Nepal began selling half-filled cooking gas cylinders last month to discourage hoarding and panic buying, with officials urging the public to cut back on fuel use. Jet fuel prices for domestic flights have been raised by 97.6 per cent, Nepal’s state-run agency that imports, stores and distributes petroleum products in the country, said.
This has resulted in a surge in domestic airfare of as much as 50 per cent, according to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal.
“The increase is because (of) the abnormal situation existing now...and will hurt the passengers. But the airfares will decrease as soon as the fuel prices fall,” its spokesperson Gyanendra Bhul said.
The fare hike will especially hurt tourists, trekkers and mountain climbers as it comes ahead of the peak tourism season, industry officials said.
Nepal had earlier this month increased petrol and diesel prices by 9.55 per cent and 7.0 per cent, respectively, and started rationing cooking gas. Wedged between India and China, Nepal is fully dependent on imports for fuel supplies.-
