“See what is happening at our borders ... with Gaza, you see the Suez Canal, which used to bring Egypt nearly $10 billion per year, (these revenues) have decreased by 40 to 50 percent and Egypt must continue to pay companies and partners,” El-Sisi said during a conference with oil companies.
The UN said in late January that the overall number of ships passing through the Suez Canal, which links the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, had fallen 42 percent in the previous two months.
The number of weekly container ship transits through the Suez fell by 67 percent year-on-year, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, while tanker traffic dropped 18 percent, the transit of bulk cargo ships carrying grain and coal was down six percent and gas transport at a standstill.
The engineering landmark, which opened in 1869, raised around $8.6 billion for Egypt in the 2022-23 fiscal year, a vital source of foreign currency, alongside tourism and remittances, in a country where importers and money changers struggle to source dollars.