Energy crisis: New office time 9am-4pm, markets to shut by 6pm

The government has decided to change the country's office hours to deal with the impact of the global energy crisis. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

According to the new decision, from now on, government and private offices will operate from 9am to 4pm. Earlier, office hours were till 5pm. That is, the working hours have been reduced by one hour.

In addition, all shops, shopping malls and commercial establishments in the country will have to be closed by 6pm. However, establishments covered by emergency services—such as hospitals, pharmacies, hotels and raw markets—will be outside this directive.

These decisions were finalized at a meeting held in the Cabinet Room of the Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat on Thursday night. After the meeting that lasted about three hours, Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Gani informed reporters about the matter.

Although business organizations had earlier proposed to close markets by 8pm, the government has taken a stricter decision and set the deadline at 6pm.

The government has said that the decision has been taken to save energy and reduce pressure on the power system. It has also been indicated that further changes to the schedule may occur in the future, considering the situation.