Suez Canal’s dollar reserves record $3.183 bln from Jan 1-Aug 6

Egypt’s waterway, Suez Canal made dollar revenues of $3.183 billion during the period between Jan 1 and Aug 6, 2016, marking a 4 per cent growth compared to the same period last year, chairman of Suez Canal Authority announced Saturday.

Mohab Memish said that the increase in revenues was made despite slowdown in global trade.

His statements were made during the one year anniversary celebration of the New Suez Canal opening. The celebration was attended by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

It was customary of the Suez Canal Authority to publish its revenue figures in dollar terms on monthly basis; however it stopped doing so since February 2016. This made monthly comparisons hard to assess especially after the central bank devalued the pound in March, Reuters reported.

Last March, the central bank of Egypt devalued the pound to 8.85 against the dollar, down from 7.73. But the pound was later raised 7 piasters to change hands at 8.78 per dollar.

Source: Aswat Masriya