CAIRO — On March 4, the Egyptian government submitted to the parliament a draft law on bankruptcy and the restructuring of the business sector, in an attempt by the state to deal with the struggling private and public sector companies and insolvent investors, so as to keep the wheels of the Egyptian market turning and remedy bankruptcy-ensuing problems.

The economic measures announced by the Egyptian government in November 2016 to liberalize the Egyptian pound exchange rate have troubled the Egyptian market, which mainly depends on foreign currency in securing imports of food commodities and raw materials for local production, estimated by the Central Bank at $13.93 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

This reflected negatively on a wide range of investors, businessmen and factory owners, as their US dollar denominated debts increased and they became unable to repay their bank dues and fulfill their obligations in the market.

Since December, a number of investor associations have resorted to local media outlets to sound the alarm in Egypt, saying that the huge loss of capital will force many of them to declare bankruptcy soon.