Egypt to use daylight saving time again in a bid to save energy

Egypt will again use daylight saving time this summer after a seven-year gap, the cabinet said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of government efforts to save energy.

Last year the Egyptian government announced a raft of rules to reduce government and commercial energy use so that the country could export more natural gas, a key foreign currency earner.

Changing the clocks “comes in light of global circumstances and economic shifts, as the government strives to rationalise energy usage,” the cabinet said while announcing the draft law that is expected to be approved by the country’s parliament.

The practice, which has been introduced and abolished at varying points in Egypt’s history, was last used in 2014, and is seen by some as a relic of the country’s previous regimes.

Clocks will be brought forward one hour beginning on the last Friday of April, with the change ending on the last Thursday in October every year, according to the cabinet.

Egypt is experiencing an economic crisis after the fallout from the Ukraine conflict aggravated a foreign currency shortage.