The Textile Industries Chamber of the Federation of Egyptian Industries estimated that the purchasing power and consumption of the local market in the sector decreased by 75% compared to the period before the exchange rate was liberalized. The Chamber explained this regression by factory production restrictions caused, in turn, by continual increases in tax costs and other production costs.
Only four factories use Egyptian cotton while the other factories import around 90% of raw cotton or yarn. In addition, around one million citizens work in textiles, which includes around 5,000 factories registered with the Chamber as an official sector subject to tax and around 5,000 in the informal sector.
In this context, the president of the Textile Industries Chamber, Mohamed Morchdi, said that the volume of tax evasion has caused the closure of 2,600 factories.
العربية 
English