The Egyptian government has decided to sell assets belonging to state-owned spinning and weaving companies in an attempt to settle their debts with the National Investment Bank. Cabinet spokesman Hani Salah announced the decision on Tuesday, citing it as part of a plan to develop the textile sector. Restructuring the sector will cost the state LE4 billion (roughly $0.5 billion) which will be financed through selling unused land owned by the companies, in addition to governmental aid, chairman of the Spinning and Weaving Holding Fouad Abdel-Aleem told Ahram Online on Wednesday. Abdel-Aleem added that the development plan is under review by a consultancy firm. Currently there are 32 spinning and weaving public companies employing around 58,000 workers. Newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly reported in April that factories in the textile sector are operating at 30 percent of their total production capacity. Source: Ahram Online
