Egypt's Suez Canal revenue up 7 pct in year to January

Egyptians watch as the Queen Mary 2 crosses the Suez Canal in Ismailia   Revenues from Egypt's Suez Canal climbed 7 per cent in the year to January, according to data posted on the Egyptian Informational Portal website on Thursday.Revenues rose to $445.8 million last month from $416.6 million in January 2011,the website showed. December 2011 saw revenues
of $443.7 million.
The waterway is a vital source of foreign currency in Egypt, along with tourism, oil and gas exports and remittances from Egyptians living abroad.
In December, the canal's authority said it would raise toll fees for all vessels passing through the strategic waterway by 3 per cent starting March 2012, saying tariffs had not been changed for the previous three years.
On 2 January, the canal took its highest daily revenues in history -- some $18.9 million generated from fees from the passage of 71 ships.