Chairman and managing director of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), Admiral Osama Mounier Mohamed Rabie said that dollar revenues from the canal are down 40% from the beginning of the year compared to 2023, while vessel traffic has declined by 30% in the same period.
The number of ships that have passed through the Suez Canal dropped to 544 so far this year, from 777 in the equivalent period of 2023, according to Rabie.
As the Suez Canal is crucial for the Egyptian economy, accounting for 2% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the crisis on the Red Sea and Suez Canal region could heavily affect the financial figures of the country.
Although financial analysts see the economic impact of the crisis on a limited level at present, they are afraid that the situation could become painful if the traffic of the canal continues to be halted.
The recent attacks by the US and UK forces against Yemen could worsen the crisis. The US and British strikes in Yemen could harm Egypt’s already-struggling economy, according to former Egyptian deputy foreign minister Hussein Haridi, who added the attacks could also cause a widening of the conflict affecting the security and the economies of Middle East and Europe.