Venezuela reduces public sector workday to save energy

Venezuela's public sector will work reduced hours to ease pressure on the country's decrepit power grid, interim leader Delcy Rodriguez said Wednesday.

Authorities are looking to ration electricity supplies as domestic consumption reaches its highest level in almost a decade.

Increasingly regular blackouts outside of Caracas have triggered protests around the country in recent weeks.

Reduced hours for public sector workers will entail "working every other day," and half days for all employees except for essential services like healthcare, Rodriguez said.

Tuesday saw demand this year peak to 15,726 megawatts despite only around 12,000 megawatts being available, she said.

Rodriguez, who replaced president Nicolas Maduro after his ouster by US forces in January, is governing under heavy pressure from Washington to open up Venezuela's economy and resources to foreign companies.

She said Wednesday that the national grid "has been under heavy demand not only because of the climate situation, but also due to economic growth."

Inland regions have suffered blackouts for years, with experts attributing the issue to poor management and a lack of maintenance.

Rodriguez announced Wednesday's measure while signing an agreement with Argentine company IMPSA to complete a hydroelectric power plant in the southern state of Bolivar.

Her administration in June struck a deal with US utility giant General Electric to boost supplies.

Power cuts have mostly spared Caracas, but some have been recorded in the capital in recent weeks.