The head of Egypt's Suez Canal Authority says revenues for the second half of the last fiscal year surged 12.5 percent, as trade picked up following the global financial crisis.
Adm. Ahmed Fadel told Egypt's official Middle East News Agency on Monday that canal revenues for the second half of fiscal 2009-2010, which ended in June, were $2.25 billion.
Fadel said total tonnage shipped through the canal spiked 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.