The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) expects to see revenues jump by 15% to hit a record $8 billion in the current fiscal year, SCA head Osama Rabie told parliament yesterday.

"The revenues of 2022 are the highest in the SCA's history," he told MPs. In FY2021/2022, the canal saw an all-time high of $7.9 billion, with revenues in the previous year reaching $6.33 billion.

More than 23,000 ships carrying 1.4 billion tons of cargo passed the navigation course in 2022, up from 21,700 ships in the previous year, he said.

The SCA announced earlier this year that they will be introducing a 15% fee increase on vessels crossing the canal starting January, which is expected to help bolster revenues and hard currency reserves next year, due to inflation and rising energy prices, freight rates, and daily tanker time-charter rates.

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Rabie had previously said he aimed to increase the Suez Canal's annual revenues to $13.5 billion by 2023

Approximately 12% of global trade passes through the Suez Canal, representing 30% of all global container traffic, and is one of Egypt’s main sources of foreign currency.