Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said on Sunday that his country lost about $6 billion in Suez Canal revenues as a result of Israel’s war on Gaza and its repercussions in the region.
Al-Sisi added, during the graduation ceremony of a new batch of police academy students, “The Suez Canal lost between 50% and 60% of its revenues… that is, more than $6 billion, due to tensions in the region during the past eight months.”
Conflict patch
He added: “The current developments are dangerous on the eastern (Gaza), southern (Sudan) and western (Libya) borders, and with them the conflict may expand, so we must be careful.”
The Egyptian President said, “I assure you that we are fine and things are going from good to better… and we are managing our affairs in a way that preserves our country and the region as much as possible without getting involved in any events that may affect security and stability.”
The annual revenues of the Egyptian Suez Canal declined by approximately a quarter – the fiscal year ending last June – as some shipping companies turned to alternative shipping routes to avoid attacks by the Houthis in Yemen on ships passing in the Red Sea.
Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie said last July that revenues declined by 23.4% to $7.2 billion in the fiscal year 2023-2024, compared to $9.4 billion during the fiscal year 2022-2023.
It is noteworthy that Egypt expanded its agreement with the International Monetary Fund to obtain $8 billion last March after an agreement with the UAE to develop the Ras El Hekma region, in addition to financing pledges from multiple parties amounting to billions of dollars at a time when the impact of a stifling crisis increased the scarcity of the dollar.
In addition to the Israeli war that has been ongoing for nearly a year on the Gaza Strip, the region is witnessing tensions that have escalated with the recent Israeli aggression against Lebanon since September 23, while the Houthis in Yemen are targeting Israeli or related cargo ships in the Red Sea “in solidarity with Gaza” and continue. War in Sudan and instability in Libya.
