Suez canal revenues up 3% in Q1 of 2012

Revenues from Egypt’s Suez Canal were $1.255 billion for the first quarter of 2012, a marginal year-on-year rise of $36.4 million , or 3 %, on the same period the year before, state news agency Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported on Thursday. Income from the international waterway was $1.218 billion between January and March 2011, according to an official cited by MENA. Revenue for the month of March 2012 was $428 million. The waterway is a vital source of foreign currency for Egypt, along with tourism, oil and gas exports and remittances from Egyptians living abroad.