Egypt's Suez Canal to raise transit fees by 3%

Egypt's Suez Canal Authority said on Thursday it would raise toll fees for all ships passing through the strategic waterway by three percent from March next year. In announcing the increase, the authority said in a statement that canal fees had remained unchanged for the past three years. The decision to raise tariffs was "based on studies on the changes in the global economy," it added. The statement said the canal earned $4.343 billion dollars in the first 10 months of 2011, a 10.5 percent increase on the same period last year when it earned $3.929 billion dollars. Along with tourism and foreign remittances, the canal is one of Egypt's key revenue earners. Tourism has sharply declined since a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak in February.