Nepal announces two-day weekends as fuel crisis caused by Iran war deepens

Saturday until now had been the only day off in the Himalayan nation, which relies almost entirely on India for its fuel supplies.Nepal has cut the working week from six days to five for government offices and educational institutions to cope with the energy crisis caused by the United States-Israel war on Iran.In an emergency cabinet meeting on Sunday, the government decided to extend the weekend to both Saturdays and Sundays.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘It all depends on the crop’: Gulf crisis hits South Asia farmerslist 2 of 4Nepal’s ex-PM Oli detained over alleged role in deadly protest crackdownlist 3 of 4Nepal’s new PM gives message to nation in rap, ahead of swearing inlist 4 of 4Deaths and debts: Missiles in Gulf shake millions of South Asian familiesend of list“Government offices and academic institutions will remain closed for two days in a week – Saturday and Sunday,” government spokesperson Sasmit Pokharel told reporters.“Given the present uncomfortable situation caused by fuel supply, the government and educational institutions remain closed for two days,” he said.Saturday had been the only day off each week for civil servants in the Himalayan nation, where government offices will now operate from 9am to 5pm 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.An airplane is seen on the tarmac near aviation fuel tanks at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal on April 2, 2026 [Prakash Mathema/AFP]Nepal, a landlocked nation of 30 million people, has no oil wells or other sources of fossil fuel. It relies almost entirely on India for its fuel supplies, leaving it exposed to international price shocks.It nearly doubled aviation fuel prices on Thursday, and the state-owned Nepal-oil-corp" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="97713" data-entity-type="organization">Nepal Oil Corp 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 as officials urged the public to cut back on fuel use.