Egypt’s President Sisi ratifies bill to reinstate daylight-saving time

CAIRO – 17 April 2023: President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has ratified Law 34/2023 regarding the restoration of the daylight-saving time, the Official Gazette reported.

The bill, which was submitted by the government, was approved by the House of Representatives during a plenary session early in April.

Clocks would be annually set forward 1 hour as per the summer time starting from the last Friday of April, which falls this year on the 28th day of the month until the last Thursday of October, which comes this year on the 26th day of the month.

The decision aims at rationalizing the energy consumption in light of the economic circumstances that the world is currently facing, according to the bill.

Egypt has embarked on a plan to rationalize energy announced by the government last year amid hike in energy prices worldwide in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine crisis that broke out early in 2022.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli has noted that the state seeks to save natural gas in order to export the surplus and boost Egypt’s foreign currency reserves.

The history of advancing and delaying the clock in Egypt dates back to Decree-Law No. 113 of 1945 during the reign of King Farouk I. Egypt has applied the summer time many times, the last of which was in 2014.