In a statement on the Egyptian Exchange on 28 January, Oriental Weavers' investor relations manager Haitham Abdel Moneim said that it could lower prices for customers because the cost of polypropylene, its main raw material, had plummeted in line with the price of oil.

In late 2008, Oriental Weavers announced that it had delayed the construction of a £E1.3bn ($230m) industrial complex from mid-2009 until 2010 because of the global economic slowdown.

Also on 28 January, Egypt's Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid became the first senior government official to admit that the country's economy could fall into recession during 2009 with one or two quarters of economic contraction (MEED 29:01:09).