The Suez Canal authority has finally released transit data for the first time in six months. The country spent $8bn on completing an expansion of the route – allowing larger vessels and shorter transit times – in August 2015. Many observers put the hiatus in what had been monthly data down to official embarrassment over the fact that revenues were flat-to-down despite the investment.
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in lauding the expansion, said at the time that annual revenue could reach $13bn by 2023 (MEES, 31 July 2015). (CONTINUED - 1329 WORDS)
