CAIRO — A study released May 29 by the Institute of National Planning, a government institute, revealed that due to the spread of the coronavirus in Egypt and the precautionary measures taken by the state and some private sector institutions, such as curfews and reduced working hours, a potential increase in the unemployment rate is expected from 8% at the end of 2019 to between 11.5% and 16% by the end of 2020.

According to the numbers mentioned in the study, around 1.2 to 2.9 million citizens are at risk of losing their jobs, 824,000 of whom are already unemployed, not to mention the return of thousands of Egyptian workers from abroad.

The study stated that the increase in the unemployment rate to such percentages will in turn lead approximately 5.6 to 12.5 million citizens to live below the poverty line. It also pointed out that the worst-case scenario was developed based on the possible return of more than 1 million Egyptians after losing their jobs abroad.

Sherif Samy, a management professor at the Faculty of Commerce at Ain Shams University, told Al-Monitor that most Egyptians who lost their jobs were working in the tourism sector, which he ruled out would return to normal activity before 2022, or were working abroad, especially in the Arab Gulf states.