Egypt considers fund to support informal economy workers amid virus outbreak

Egypt’s Cabinet on Sunday discussed establishing a crisis management fund to support workers in the informal economy who have been impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which prompted authorities last week to close restaurants, food carts, cafes, and non-essential commercial shops across the country each evening through March 31.

The funding for the proposal is set to come from either the state budget or other sources, which will be announced at a later time, as well as the emergency fund of the Manpower Ministry.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has instructed the relevant authorities to prepare accurate statistics with the numbers of non-standard workers impacted across all sectors.