Nearly 10 per cent of Jordan’s clothing stores are expected to close during 2021 and additional closings are anticipated during the current year. The sector faces protracted financial burdens, such as piled up utility bills, bank loans, taxes and unpaid rent. Currently there are 10,500 stores, many of which have received written warnings from their landlords to evacuate their shops due to being unable to pay rent. The sector is facing an existential crisis.

“It is time for the government to make bold decisions and initiate positive actions,” says Muneer Deyeh, President, Jordan’s Textile and Readymade Clothes Syndicate. He further added “It is important to take effective and swift measures to minimize the economic impacts of this crisis, so that many entities will not be forced to shut down for good. Emergency cash assistance is needed for hard-hit sectors in order to stay afloat.”

The clothing industry had already been suffering before the pandemic with 600 stores closed in 2019.