CAIRO: After years of disappointment and drops in revenue, Egypt's Suez Canal appears to be moving forward. The Suez Canal Authority reported that revenues for the second half of the last fiscal year soared 12.5 percent as the canal's traffic picked up as the global financial crisis subsided. Admiral Ahmed Fadel, the head of the canal authority, told the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) on Monday that revenues during the second half of fiscal 2009-2010, which ended in June, earned some $2.25 billion. Fadel said that the total tonnage shipped through the canal increased by a massive 20 percent in the first half of 2010, even as traffic through the canal only increased slightly. Canal revenues are one of Egypt's key sources of foreign currency revenue and have taken a beating over the last few years as the global meltdown hit shipping routes. Egypt is projecting an economic growth rate of slightly over 5 percent this year. In recent months, indications of a return to pre-crisis levels could be seen, with a number of months reporting profits. ** Reporting by Mohamed Abdel Salam BM
