Bangladesh officials told not to wear suits

Bangladesh has told government officials to avoid wearing suits, jackets and ties during the summer to save electricity used on air conditioning.

The cabinet announced its decision recently, saying officials should wear open-necked shirts and trousers — changing a dress code that had been in place since 1982. The code was adhered to, at least by mid- and senior -level officials, who would don a suit even in the March-Nov summer months, when temperatures can reach 40 degrees Celsius.

The change is the latest in a series of government steps to try to save power in Bangladesh, which suffers chronic power shortages even though only 45 per cent of its 150 million people have access to electricity. It produces about 3,800 megawatts a day, far short of its demand of about 5,000MW.

In June, the government set clocks forward by an hour in its daylight savings effort.

The government also said this week it would distribute for free 26.5 million energy-saving bulbs from February with aid from the World Bank. Mohammad Enamul Haq, junior minister for power and energy, said the measure should save about 350 megawatts of electricity a day.