CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) – Recession-hit Venezuela will turn off the electricity supply in its 10 most populous states for four hours a day for 40 days to deal with a severe power shortage, the government said Thursday.

“Each user will have a temporary suspension of four hours a day. The plan will last approximately 40 days” to alleviate pressure on the country’s largest hydroelectric dam, said Electricity Minister Luis Motta.

It is the latest drastic measure to alleviate a severe electricity crisis which President Nicolas Maduro and his government blame on the El Nino weather phenomenon that causes drought.

Critics say it is the result of years of economic mismanagement by his leftist administration.

Maduro is under growing pressure from the centre-right opposition, which vowed to oust him when it took control of the legislature in January after winning a landslide election victory, blaming him for the crippling economic crisis.

Venezuela’s economy has plunged along with the price of the oil on which it relies for foreign revenues. Shortages of medicines and goods such as toilet paper and cooking oil are widespread.

Maduro blames the collapse on an “economic war” by capitalists.

Last week, his government said it was shifting its time zone forward by 30 minutes to save power.

Other measures include giving government workers an extra day off each week for the next two months, and Maduro has urged Venezuelan women to stop using their hairdryers.