CAIRO, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The revenues of the traffic fees of Egypt's Suez Canal reached 5.8 billion U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 2018-2019, said the canal's authority in a statement on Wednesday.
Fiscal year in Egypt starts in July.
"The number of ships crossing the waterway in that period increased to reach 18,800 with tonnage amounting to 1.2 billion tons," said Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority.
He added the new branch of the Suez Canal reduced the passage time from 22 hours to only 11 hours.
The Suez Canal is one of Egypt's main sources of national income and foreign currency reserves, besides tourism and foreign investment that have been suffering decline over the past few years of political turmoil and relevant security challenges.
Some 12 percent of the world trade volume passes through the Suez Canal which is considered the most important and fastest navigation passage connecting Africa, Asia and Europe by bridging the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
The canal's revenues reached 4.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2016-2017 fiscal year, according to official statistics.
