Official data: Suez Canal revenues fall by 2.1% in 8 months

The Information and Decision Support Centre’s official data revealed on Tuesday that the Suez Canal revenues declined by 2.1 per cent during the first 8 months of this year.

According to the Egyptian Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC), Suez Canal revenues amounted to $ 3.366 billion compared to $ 3.439 billion in the same period of 2015, recording a decrease of about 2.1 per cent.

Despite the inauguration of the new Suez Canal extension in August 2015 and the IDSC’s predictions about the revenues to reach $ 13.2 billion annually by 2023 from transiting ships, revenues fell significantly.

Economists questioned the feasibility of the canal’s development project after about $ 8 billion were spent at a time where the country was suffering from economic crisis.

A delegation formed of the Suez Canal Authority and the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) commenced a European tour on Monday which included France, Switzerland and Denmark to seek advice from major European shipping lines, according to the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper.

The tour aimed at promoting the idea of prepaying transit fees, for the ships affiliated to those shipping lines, 3 years in advance. This scheme will result in strengthening the CBE’s foreign reserves.