Pakistan decides to shut shops by 8 pm to conserve energy

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan today decided to shut down shops by 8 pm here in a bid to save hundreds of megawatts of energy and set an example for other parts of the country gripped by severe power cuts.

The same pattern would be replicated in Punjab province which may save hundreds of megawatts of electricity.

Under the new directive, marriage halls would shut by 10 pm and restaurants by 11 pm.

This was decided in a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy ( CCE) under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to review progress on power projects, Dawn reported.

Sharif also directed Secretary of the Ministry of Water and Power Younus Dagha to personally supervise all the projects being planned under the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor on a daily basis in order to determine appropriate deliverables for the agreed energy projects in view of the upcoming visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

According to the power ministry's report, demand of electricity has surged to 14000MW, while the generation has reduced to only 7,000MW.

Refineries are unable to fulfil the demands of furnace oil, while a decision to purchase 12 cargoes of furnace oil has been facing a shortfall of Rs 30 billion.

In addition to chronic infrastructure problems, the energy sector is also trapped into a vicious "circular debt" brought on by the dual effect of the government setting low electricity prices and customers failing to pay for it.