Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stated recently that his country is facing monthly losses of approximately $800 million in Suez Canal revenues due to ongoing regional instability. According to a statement from the Egyptian presidency, El-Sisi affirmed that Egypt has navigated the past 15 years with steady and deliberate progress, overcoming global economic crises and other significant challenges.
Despite the mounting challenges, El-Sisi said that the Egyptian economy is showing positive indicators, noting that the International Monetary Fund recently approved the disbursement of a new tranche to Egypt.
Egypt secures $1.2 billion from the IMF
Egypt recently secured a $1.2 billion disbursement from the IMF following the completion of the fourth review of its economic reform program. This disbursement, which came under the Extended Fund Facility, brings Egypt’s total funding under the program to around $3.2 billion. The IMF also approved a $1.3 billion facility under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility to support Egypt’s climate-related reforms.
According to the European External Action Service (EEAS), Egypt is also set to receive a $94.3 million loan from the European Union (EU) and the European Investment Bank as part of the Egypt Food Resilience Project. The announcement was made earlier this month during the visit of Dubravka Šuica, EU commissioner for the Mediterranean, who met with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and other senior Egyptian officials.
Suez Canal revenues dip 60 percent in 2024
Last year, Admiral Ossama Rabiee, chairman and managing director of the Suez Canal Authority, revealed that the canal’s revenues declined over 60 percent year-on-year in 2024 as a result of the events in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb, which negatively affected navigational traffic through the Canal and the sustainability of global trade. This means that Egypt lost nearly $7 billion in 2024.
In a meeting with President El-Sisi last year, Rabiee discussed the ongoing projects to modernize the Suez Canal’s navigation route to enhance its value and role in global supply chains and trade. These projects include the completion of the entire southern sector project and the expansion of the navigation route from 132 kilometers to 162 kilometers to allow for the passage of giant vessels.
Upgrades to the Suez Canal also include the completion of the full duplication of the navigation channel from 122 kilometers to 132 kilometers, which will help increase cargo volume and speed up the movement of vessels in both directions.
