Egypt Lifts Shop Curfew Triggered by US-Iran War Costs
The government confirmed that commercial establishments would revert to standard operating hours, effectively nullifying the previous mandate that had forced shops, malls, and restaurants to shut their doors by 11 pm local time (2000 GMT).
The restrictions were first enacted in late March as Cairo scrambled to curb fuel consumption after the war sent global energy prices surging and dramatically widened Egypt's import bill.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly convened a session of the central crisis management committee to assess the rippling economic fallout from the continuing US-Israeli-Iranian military escalation, the Cabinet confirmed in an official statement. Following that review, the Cabinet formally approved restoring normal trading hours across retail, hospitality, and commercial sectors nationwide.
Cabinet spokesperson Mohamed El-Homsani, speaking in a phone interview with a local television channel, confirmed the decision had been fully reversed. He noted, however, that several other energy-conservation policies — among them a remote-work directive on Sundays — would remain in effect.
El-Homsani attributed the rollback in part to sustained pressure from private-sector stakeholders, with the tourism industry cited specifically as a key driver behind the reversal.
The original restrictions, introduced on March 28, had initially mandated a 9 pm shutdown across shops, cafes, malls, and restaurants throughout the week, with slightly extended hours of 10 pm permitted on Thursdays and Fridays. That deadline was subsequently relaxed to 11 pm before being lifted entirely.
Beyond the curfew, Cairo had also rolled out broader austerity interventions — including powering down highway billboards and dimming street and public-square lighting — as part of a sweeping national strategy to reduce overall energy consumption.
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