A quarter of a million Egyptians working in the United Arab Emirates are threatened with lay-offs due to the accumulating debt crisis that Dubai is facing. Experts project a drop in money transfers from the Gulf, which usually account for the most remittances sent by Egyptian expats working abroad. According to a Central Bank report, transfers from the UAE already dropped from US$279.4 million to US$259.8 million in the fourth quarter of last fiscal year. Planning Institute expert Zeinat Tabala said Egypt's unemployment rate would rise drastically should the Egyptian expatriates be forced to return home. An official at the Construction Export Council said workers in the construction sector would be the first to get laid-off, as this sector has been hit the hardest. A source at the economic development ministry said the ratio of Egyptian expats to other nationalities working in the Gulf is now no more than 30 per cent. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
