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In a city that has long prided itself on never sleeping, Cairo's streets now tell a different story.
The street lights in Egypt's Nile-side capital of about 25 million have been dimmed to conserve energy, one of several measures introduced by authorities to cope with energy prices pushed significantly higher by the Iran war, now in its fourth week.
The city's streets grew even darker when authorities also switched off the giant billboards that advertise everything from high-end residential compounds to TV soaps and Chinese cars.
If the dark streets have forced motorists and pedestrians to pay more attention to where they are going, what is coming next will change the dynamics of life in the city.
For 30 days starting on Saturday, shops, malls, restaurants and cafes will have to close at 9pm during weekdays and at 10pm on Thursdays and Fridays.
Cairo's shops and malls are normally open until midnight, while eateries and cafes serve customers until the small hours of the morning. Early closings will hurt business owners and could also lead to job losses in the service sector.
“We will rescind these measures if the crisis ends, but will extend them if it doesn't,” said Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.
He said the government was considering designating one or two days a week for government and public sector employees to work at home. Workers in service and production sectors, such as hospitals and factories, would not be included, he added.
Earlier this month, the government introduced its first measure in response to the Iran war, raising fuel and gas prices by up to 30 per cent. As in similar cases over the past decade, the move pushed up prices across the board – by as much as 20 per cent for food and transport.
“The biggest challenge to us is that this war does not have a clear timeline when it comes to its end,” said Mr Madbouly, who has been Prime Minister for eight years. “If this war continues for another month or two, we will endure and deal with it as well as we can.
“We will not continue raising prices. We need to have other ideas. We must rationalise spending. We don't want to further raise prices because that hurts the economy and increases inflationary pressures.”
Egypt's economy is heavily dependent on imports, with an annual oil bill of about $20 billion. It is often the world's largest importer of wheat, a key and politically sensitive commodity in a country where more than 70 million people depend on heavily subsidised bread as their main staple.
Mr Madbouly explained that although the rise in fuel prices meant the flat bread, known as eish balady, available to ration card holders for 20 piastres (less than 1 US cent), now cost 20 to 25 piastres more, its actual cost was between 1.5-2 pounds.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has said repeatedly since US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28 that tough days lie ahead for Egypt as the fallout from the conflict bites.
He said the rise in fuel prices was the least costly measure in response to the crisis and reminded Egyptians that fuel and electricity remain subsidised by the state. As in past times when his government faced an economic crisis, he cited the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, the Gaza war and now the Iran war for the country's economic ills, absolving his government of all responsibility.
“I belong to what's left of the middle class,” said a 76-year-old pensioner from Cairo. “Food prices have gone up again, and that is impacting nearly everything I do at home. Nothing is left in the fridge until it goes bad and gets binned, cautious shopping and less meat and poultry,” said the retired private sector employee who wanted to be identified only by her first name, Samya.
