Egypt’s Suez Canal nets $8 billion in new annual record

Egypt’s Suez Canal nets $8 billion in new annual record

Cairo: Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority announced Wednesday an all-time annual revenue record, earning $8 billion in transit fees in 2022. The income from the vital waterway is about 25 per cent higher than the $6.3 billion netted in 2021, following a series of toll hikes to help pad Egypt’s foreign reserves. The canal is a source of much-needed foreign currency for Egypt, with global investors pulling billions out of the economy during the current crisis triggered by Russia’s war on Ukraine last year. Annual inflation hit 21.9 per cent in December and the local currency has lost around half its value in less than a year in successive devaluations demanded as part of a $3 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund. The Suez Canal Authority said an average of 68 ships traversed the vital waterway daily last year, carrying 1.41 billion tonnes of cargo, which it also described as a “record high”. Authorities credited a 2015 expansion of the canal with the rise in revenue. The $8 billion project was among the first of many major undertakings launched by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, which critics slam as unnecessary massive expenses for a struggling economy. “Suez Canal revenues