AGL 40.00 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
AIRLINK 132.66 Increased By ▲ 3.13 (2.42%)
BOP 6.89 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (3.14%)
CNERGY 4.57 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-1.3%)
DCL 8.92 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.22%)
DFML 42.75 Increased By ▲ 1.06 (2.54%)
DGKC 84.00 Increased By ▲ 0.23 (0.27%)
FCCL 32.90 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.4%)
FFBL 77.06 Increased By ▲ 1.59 (2.11%)
FFL 12.20 Increased By ▲ 0.73 (6.36%)
HUBC 110.01 Decreased By ▼ -0.54 (-0.49%)
HUMNL 14.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-1.1%)
KEL 5.53 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (2.6%)
KOSM 8.32 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.95%)
MLCF 39.67 Decreased By ▼ -0.12 (-0.3%)
NBP 65.50 Increased By ▲ 5.21 (8.64%)
OGDC 198.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.92 (-0.46%)
PAEL 26.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.65 (-2.44%)
PIBTL 7.62 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.52%)
PPL 159.00 Increased By ▲ 1.08 (0.68%)
PRL 26.24 Decreased By ▼ -0.49 (-1.83%)
PTC 18.35 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.6%)
SEARL 82.24 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-0.24%)
TELE 8.12 Decreased By ▼ -0.19 (-2.29%)
TOMCL 34.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-0.32%)
TPLP 8.98 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.88%)
TREET 16.88 Decreased By ▼ -0.59 (-3.38%)
TRG 59.49 Decreased By ▼ -1.83 (-2.98%)
UNITY 27.52 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (0.33%)
WTL 1.40 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (1.45%)
BR100 10,614 Increased By 206.9 (1.99%)
BR30 31,874 Increased By 160.5 (0.51%)
KSE100 98,972 Increased By 1644 (1.69%)
KSE30 30,784 Increased By 591.7 (1.96%)

CAIRO: Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority announced Wednesday an all-time annual revenue record, earning $8 billion in transit fees in 2022, as the country balks under a worsening economic crisis.

The income from the vital waterway is about 25 percent higher than the $6.3 billion netted in 2021, following a series of toll hikes to help pad Egypt’s siphoned foreign reserves.

The canal is a source of much-needed foreign currency for Egypt, with global investors pulling billions out of the import-dependent economy during the current crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

Annual inflation hit 21.9 percent 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 al-Sisi, which critics slam as unnecessary massive expenses for a struggling economy.

“Suez Canal revenues rose from $4.5 billion before the new canal to $8 billion, and are expected to rise to $10 and $12 billion, which proves the importance and success of national development projects Egypt has implemented,” Sisi said this week, defending the mega-project.

Connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, the canal accounts for roughly 10 percent of global maritime trade and the majority of oil transported by sea.

Tolls were hiked three times last year for vessels traversing the man-made waterway, which is the fastest crossing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean.

In recent months, two vessels briefly ran aground in the canal, sparking fears of a repeat of a major 2021 blockage when the giant container ship Ever Given became diagonally wedged in the canal, blocking trade for nearly a week and costing billions of dollars in shipping delays.

Comments

Comments are closed.