Romania may halt electricity exports and limit supplies to industrial consumers in a bid to meet rising household demand due to freezing temperatures, the government said Tuesday.

The electricity transportation company Transelectrica can limit or halt exports and diminish supplies to industrial consumers until stocks are back to normal levels and the balance between production and consumption restored, a decision adopted by the government reads.

"This is a precautionary measure that will be enforced only in case of need," Prime Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu told reporters.

He stressed that the aim was to make sure households would not be affected by power cuts.

The restrictions are applicable from February 16 to March 15.

The economy ministry said the move was taken after a 50-percent drop in the level of the Danube and inland rivers, rising gas consumption and the difficulty of supplying coal to thermal-power stations due to heavy snowfalls and freezing temperatures.

The head of Transelectrica was sacked Monday after implying that households too could suffer from electricity shortages.

Romania last year exported 2.4 billion kilowatt hours.