Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday postponed moving civil servants to a planned new administrative capital city to 2021 from 2020 due to the coronavirus epidemic.

Iran PressAfrica: Al-Sisi also postponed the launch of some other big projects including the Grand Egyptian Museum and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization to next year, the presidency said in a statement.

The decision was “due to the circumstances and repercussions of the process of combating the spread of the new coronavirus either at the national level or globally,” it said.

Al-Sisi’s government has said it wants to start running Egypt from the new city as soon as the middle of 2020. But the $58 billion project has struggled to raise funds and faced other challenges after some investors pulled out.

Egypt has confirmed more than 1000 coronavirus cases and 71 deaths since the outbreak of coronavirus in the African country.

220

Read More:

Number of COVID-19 victims reaches to 58 in Egypt

South Africa reports first deaths, lockdown into effect