CAIRO — Egypt's government ordered shops, restaurants, malls and cafes across the country to close at 9 p.m. (19:00 GMT) for a month to conserve oil-powered electricity during the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. The measures include dimming streetlights and roadside advertising.

District offices in the New Administrative Capital east of Cairo were ordered to close by 6 p.m. (16:00 GMT), while civil servants were asked to work from home one day a week in April. Tourist-attraction areas, including the Red Sea resorts of Hurghada, Sharm el-Sheikh and Marsa Alam, as well as the southern cities of Aswan and Luxor, are exempt from the energy-saving measures.

Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly said the measures aim to curtail oil consumption. "The alternative would be to resort again to further price increases," Madbouly said. The government hiked prices for fuel and cooking gas earlier this month.

Egypt is not a party to the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, but the war's repercussions include higher oil prices and disrupted shipping routes affecting Egypt. On Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel launched massive airstrikes on Iran. Iran retaliated by attacking oil and gas infrastructure across the Persian Gulf and by squeezing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial chokepoint for about a fifth of global oil supply.

Global energy prices have skyrocketed since the start of the war on Feb. 28. Egypt's oil bill more than doubled from January to $2.5 billion. Egypt's population of over 108 million people consumes $20 billion of oil products annually, including fuel used to operate power plants. Egypt imports 28% of its gasoline and 45% of its diesel.

Business owners reported immediate impacts from the early closing order. Youssef Salah, a cafe owner in the Sayeda Zeinab neighborhood of Cairo, cut his 35-member workforce by 40%. Salah's café used to stay open 24 hours a day with peak hours from evening until the early morning. On Saturday, Salah closed his café at 9 p.m.

"It deprives us from our peak time," Salah said. Store employee Ayman Harbi called on the government to extend opening hours at least until midnight. "Forcing me to close at 9 p.m. (19:00 GMT) makes the workday pointless," Harbi said.