{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreibpvcacjtw2rpdjeboqonqlm6zya7epx63kgl6tf6owiewmyok24q",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:qdzcgmgri7npfs46puqpnnjo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mitminc42on2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreiadp2t5sf6u4etwoilg33wdreyw6cppfw7upzu5kpwvof3e6kbjcq"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/webp",
    "size": 80478
  },
  "path": "/news/1989178/markets-malls-to-close-at-8pm-across-country-except-sindh-to-conserve-energy",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-06T15:46:42.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.dawn.com",
  "tags": [
    "Pakistan",
    "announced",
    "austerity measures",
    "nearly 25 per cent of the world’s oil",
    "digital wallet subsidy initiative"
  ],
  "textContent": "ISLAMABAD: The government decided on Monday that markets and shopping malls in the country, barring those in Sindh, would close by 8pm as part of energy conservation measures.\n\nThe decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad, a statement by the PM’s Office said.\n\nIt added that markets in divisional headquarters in KP would be allowed to remain open till 9pm and consultations were under way regarding business hours for markets in Sindh.\n\n> Meanwhile, the meeting decided that markets and shopping malls in the rest of KP, Punjab, Balochistan, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir would close by 8pm, the statement said.\n\nRegarding the decision to allow markets in divisional headquarters in KP, the statement said it was taken in consultation with the provincial government. The statement added that shops selling daily-use items and departmental stores would also close by 8pm.\n\nIt said it had also been decided that bakeries, restaurants, tandoors and shops selling food items would close by 10pm and marriage halls, marquees and other commercial entities used for hosting wedding ceremonies would also close by this time.\n\nThere would also be a restriction on hosting wedding ceremonies at private properties and houses beyond 10pm, the statement added.\n\nHowever, medical stores and pharmacies were being given exemptions from timing restrictions, it said.\n\nThe new timings will be effective from April 7.\n\nThe decisions come a day after the Balochistan and KP governments announced business hours for their respective provinces, which align with those taken at today’s meeting.\n\nThe meeting reviewed fuel- and energy-conservation measures, as well as austerity measures, taken against the backdrop of an ongoing war in the Middle East, the PMO statement said.\n\nThe conflict began with the launch of US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, during which the disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz — a strategic maritime corridor through which nearly 25 per cent of the world’s oil used to pass before the war — has driven up fuel prices and caused supply disruptions.\n\nThe PMO’s statement said a transaction of Rs100,000 had been made under the government’s digital wallet subsidy initiative — one among several steps taken by the government to deal with the fuel crisis. The provision of this relief on the purchase of petroleum products was ongoing, the statement said.\n\nThe statement said PM expressed gratitude to the chief ministers of Punjab, KP, Balochistan and GB, as well as to the AJK PM, for reaching a decision with consensus on a matter of “national importance”.\n\nIt further quoted the PM as saying that he was hopeful that, after consultations between the Sindh government and stakeholders, the former would also join others in implementing energy conservation measures.\n\nHe also said that inter-city public transport services would be provided for free in Gilgit and Muzaffarabad for a month, and the federal government would bear all the expenses on this account during this duration.\n\nDeputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Economic Affairs Minister Ahad Cheema and relevant senior officials and officers were among those who attended the meeting, the PMO statement said.\n\n* * *\n\n_More to follow_",
  "title": "Markets, malls to close at 8pm across country, except Sindh, to conserve energy"
}