![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/658793_1710607_updates.jpg\")
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A view of the rush in the Hyderi Market in Karachi during Eid shopping. \u2014 INP<\/p>\n
The federal government has ordered the closure of markets and shopping malls in all provinces except Sindh at 8pm from April 7 as part of energy conservation measures amid the ongoing Middle East conflict.<\/p>\n
The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on petroleum products on Monday.<\/p>\n
The measures come as Pakistan moves to mitigate the impact of rising global fuel and energy costs, triggered by the ongoing war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
The more than month-old conflict erupted after the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran on February 28.<\/p>\n
According to the PM Office handout issued today, starting April 7, markets, shopping malls, departmental stores, and daily-use goods shops will close at 8pm in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Islamabad, Gilgit Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).<\/p>\n
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, divisional headquarters markets and malls may remain open until 9pm, the statement added.<\/p>\n
Bakeries, restaurants, tandoors, and food outlets and marriage halls would close at 10pm, adding that private properties and homes will also face restrictions on wedding celebrations beyond 10pm. <\/p>\n
Medical stores and pharmacies will be exempt from these measures, it added.<\/p>\n
The prime minister also announced that intercity public transport in Gilgit and Muzaffarabad will be free for one month.<\/p>\n
The implementation of new measures will take effect from April 7. <\/p>\n
A day earlier, the provincial governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have ordered early closure of markets, wedding halls and restaurants under energy conservation measures.<\/p>\n
Rising energy costs<\/p>\n
The turmoil in the Gulf region has led to a spike in global oil and energy prices, with countries around the world rushing to ration fuel and energy.<\/p>\n
The more than month-old conflict erupted after the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran on February 28.<\/p>\n
In its response, Tehran targeted US bases across the Gulf region and effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for oil and energy shipping.<\/p>\n
Citing impacts of disruptions to the global oil supply chain, Pakistan announced an increase of Rs55 each in the price of petrol and diesel on March 6.<\/p>\n
The federal government also announced a wide-ranging austerity and fuel conservation plan, including a four-day workweek, a cut in fuel allowance and a 20% reduction in all government departments\u2019 expenditures.<\/p>\n
However, the petrol price was raised to Rs458.41 per litre on April 2, an increase of Rs137.23, while diesel rose to Rs520.35 per litre, up by Rs184.49.<\/p>\n
At the time, federal ministers attributed the sharp increase to the rising international oil prices amid the Middle East conflict.<\/p>\n
A day later, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reduced the petrol price to Rs378 per litre for a month, slashing the petroleum levy by Rs80 per litre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A view of the rush in the Hyderi Market in Karachi during Eid shopping. \u2014 INP The federal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[72,113,61,60],"class_list":["post-384949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}