Monthly revenue from the Suez Canal rose 3.5 per cent in the year to March to reach $428 million, state statistics showed on Monday. Canal revenue was $413.5 million in March 2011, according to the Egypt Information Portal website. It also rose 12.2 per cent month-on-month from $381.4 million in February 2012. The waterway is a vital source of foreign currency for Egypt, along with tourism, oil and gas exports and remittances from Egyptians living abroad. Figures released last August showed revenues hit a record high of $5.05 billion in the 2010/11 financial year.