
A cargo ship is seen crossing through the New Suez Canal, Ismailia, Egypt (Reuters)
Egypt's monthly receipts from the Suez Canal fell close to 7 percent year-on-year in October according to data posted on the Suez Canal Authority's website on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Revenues from the canal in October fell to $449.2 million, compared to $482.3 million in October 2014.
The figure, however, represented a slight rise compared to the $448.8 million in receipts recorded in September 2015.
The canal is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia and is one of the country's main sources of foreign currency.
Suez Canal Authority Head told state-run news agency MENA on Wednesday that receipts from the international waterway have been hit by a slow down in global economic activity, and that he is confident they would pick up in early 2016.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated an expansion of the canal in August, which the Egyptian government claimed would bolster revenues from the waterway from $5.3 billion in 2014 to $13.2 billion in 2023, a prediction which economists questioned in light of projections for global trade at the time.
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