Egypt's economic crisis weighs heavily on heritage - minister

Tourists look at pharaonic artefact inside the Egyptian Museum during the summer season in Cairo, Egypt, July 14, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt cannot afford to keep its museums open let alone search for ancient buried treasures because of the economic crisis, the antiquities minister says.

Tourism, a mainstay of the economy, has been hit hard since the 2011 revolution that overthrew veteran ruler Hosni Mubarak, with many of Egypt's renowned historical sites, from the pyramids at Giza to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, suffering a decline in foreign visitors.