Egypt's Suez Canal revenues rose 4.1 percent to USD 853.7 millionin March and Aprilfrom $820.4 million in the same period last year, Suez Canal Authority Chairman Mohab Mameesh said in a statement on Wednesday.

Ship traffic through the vital Egyptian waterway rose 4.4 percent to register 2,973 ships during March and April this year compared to 2,847 ships in the same period 2016, Mameesh added in the statement, emailed to Ahram Online.

The chairman attributed the pickup partially to what he called the authority's "flexible marketing policy," which includes "discounts and bonuses" offered to shipping lines using the canal.

The Suez Canal is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia. The waterway is one of Egypt's key earners of hard currency.

Egypt has been struggling to revive its economy since the 2011 revolution, which deterred tourists and foreign investors -- major sources of foreign currency.

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