Name: Schools shut in Pakistan due to energy issues from US-Israel war with Iran | BBC News
Uploaded: 2026-03-10T23:01:21.000Z
Duration: 5 min 14 s
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The world's biggest producer of crude oil has warned of catastrophic consequences if the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked to shipping for an extended period.

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Saudi Aramco says the longer the disruption to oil exports went on, the more drastic the global impact would be.

The price of oil has fallen from yesterday's highs, but fears of further volatility remain.

Let's take you live now to Carrie Davies in Islamabad and Arundel Mukherjee who joins us now from Delhi to get a picture of, of what is happening in both Pakistan and in India.

How has the conflict and the price of energy affected not only the price of petrol at the pump but the economy more broadly?

Well, Lucy, we know that there will be impacts because yesterday evening we heard from the Pakistan's Prime Minister who made an announcement to the entire nation talking about the different measures that Pakistan is putting in place to try to make sure that fuel is preserved.

So various different measures, including a four day working week for government, government jobs, although he also said that he wants to see that in private companies as well, that 50% of the workforce they've said should be working from home, apart from those in essential industries.

We've also heard that schools will be closed from the end of this week for two weeks and that universities have been told to continue their operations online.

These are just some of the measures that have been put in place in the attempt to, to try to preserve fuel.

But there's also been measures put in place to try to, to, to try to save more government funds.

Now of course, with the price going up, we have heard from Pakistan that they could see that their monthly oil bill could go up to 600 million USD a month.

So the other measures that they are starting to put in place to try to use sort of costing measures have included things like ministers and their advisers not taking their salaries for the course of the next two months.

There's going to be, officials have been told that they aren't able to do foreign visits as well in the vast majority of cases.

So all of these different measures are being put in place.

But a big question is how long will this crisis in the Middle east go on for and how long can those existing reserves that Pakistan has got, how far can they stretch them and run a day?

Well, in terms of the immediate concerns.

Well, let's, let's break it down in terms of petrol and diesel that seems to be under control at least for, and

the government officials have assured that there isn't any need to panic or worry on that count.

And they have said that they have reserves for at least 25 to 30 days.

There are also experts who are pointing out the fact that India can always fall back on Russian oil imports.

Remember, the US also granted a waiver of sorts to India and India has been a traditional buyer of cheap Russian food as well.

So in terms of options, India seems to have those.

But the real challenge that is being felt is in small eateries and restaurants around the country.

Because lpg, which is liquid petroleum gas, that is essentially that cost has increased and that is what is used by about 300 million households in the country.

And also a lot of these restaurants who power their, their, their eateries through these cylinders which are coming in on a daily basis.

Now the government has said only essential supplies will be made.

Now given the shortages or the risk of shortages.

That means in places like hospitals or institutions there the cylinder supplies will be maintained.

But in other non essential areas which they have categorized restaurants and hotels to be, that is where they are likely to feel a pinch.

And that's why we've seen a lot of statements from these big associations of restaurants pointing out that they're hitting code red that they only have gas left for about two to three days.

Some of these restaurants talking about how, you know, they are also an essential part of the functioning, you know, at a time when, you know, they reminding people about what happened during COVID times, how they played an essential role in providing services to the people and they are basing that the government should grant them some sort of exemption.

I'm in a very busy street lined with restaurants just to get a sense of what is really happening.

And there is a real worry that this could hit home in this kind of industry.

And also this essentially means a cascading effect on inflation, something that India has really tried to keep on the check.

And Carrie, just to be clear, the vulnerability for Pakistan is also with natural gas, isn't it?

And that's where the Strait of Hormuz comes in.

So the Strait of Hormuz is so crucial for both imports of oil and imports of gas.

And today, much as a ranger they were saying, I went out to speak to two people as well to hear about what impact this is already having on people's lives.

We spoke to a few people who were running shops who were saying that they were already hearing that the prices for the goods they were going to be ordering in next were already increasing.

So that's already filtering through into the economy here in Pakistan.

And bear in mind, of course, we're currently in in Ramadan and the period in the run up to EID is particularly important for a lot of these shops.

So they are worried that the fact that people are not going to be coming out, that many people are not going to be going to schools, not going to their offices, they're worried footfall in this important build up in time for their businesses is going to drop dramatically.

Caroline Davies, Arundel Day Mukherjee, Great to have you both with us.