Recession and deteriorating economic conditions have led to closure of 30 per cent of Egypt’s textile factories, says MP Enas Abdel Halim. As per the Middle East Monior, the remaining factories had reduced production by 50 to 70 per cent.

Egypt had about 1,260 spinning, weaving and dyeing factories registered in Mahalla, but now only 320 factories are operating, employing 120,000 workers.

Halimwarned the government against neglecting this issue, while calling for the Minister of Trade and Industry, NevinJama, to be questioned in parliament about the recent deterioration in the textile sector.

Egypt's unemployment rate rose to 9.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2020 compared with 7.5 per cent a year earlier, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the statistics agency CAPMAS revealed in August.