Nepal cuts workweek amid fuel crisis

Kathmandu [Nepal], April 6: 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 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.
Nepal had nearly doubled aviation fuel prices as global energy costs surge during the Middle East war, officials said Thursday, raising fears of a fresh blow to its tourism-dependent economy. The landlocked Himalayan nation of 30 million relies almost entirely on India for its fossil fuel supplies, leaving it exposed to international price shocks.
"Aviation fuel prices have increased," Manoj Kumar Thakur, spokesman for the state-owned Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), told AFP. Jet fuel price has risen by 97.6 percent, from 127 Nepali rupees ($0.86) per liter to 251 rupees ($1.69), NOC said in a statement.
Thakur said while fuel supplies remained stable, the corporation was incurring heavy losses on other petroleum products despite some price hikes last week. The corporation had already lost five billion rupees ($33 million) in the past two weeks, he said. Last month, Nepal began selling half-filled cooking gas cylinders to discourage hoarding and panic buying, and officials are now urging the public to cut back on fuel use.
Source: Qatar Tribune